Italdesign is now part of vw

[sabin]

Confirming last week’s report, Volkswagen announced this morning that it will acquire a 90.1 percent share of Italdesign-Giugiaro SpA.
VW hasn’t confirmed how much it paid for Italdesign, a firm owned by the Giugiaro family since 1968, although VW CFO Hans Dieter Poetsch said that the purchase price was “substantial.” Technically, the 90 percent share will be owned by Lamborghini, a unit owned by parent company Volkswagen.
“The future of Italdesign is in good hands with Volkswagen … For us its an ideal partner,” CEO Martin Winterkorn told reporters in Turin, Italy, where the firm is located. VW hasn’t announced any future plans for Italdesign, although it has confirmed that all of its own global design centers will remain operational.
References
1.’VW buys car…’ view
The Giugiaro family will retain the remaining 9.9 percent share in Italdesign and the company’s Moncalieri, Italy, design studio will remain intact. VW plans to keep all 900 automotive and industrial design employees, although their automotive commissions will change.
VW-exclusive firm
Italdesign will work only on VW projects, said noted designer Giorgetto Giugiaro.
“There is no room for anything else,” Giugiaro told the media. Giugiaro himself penned some of the most important new car designs of the 20th and 21st centuries, including the Alfa Romeo Giulia Sprint GT (best known as the GTV), Lotus Esprit, Delorean DMC-12, BMW M1, Saab 9000 and Alfa Romeo 159.
Some of Giugiaro’s most influential designs have been for Volkswagen, however, making his company’s new ownership seem more like destiny. Giugiaro counts among his VW designs the original Golf and Scirocco and he has done considerable work for other VW subsidiaries like Seat, Audi and Lamborghini.

[SilverSpear]

Thanks for the update Sabin.

I guess VW desperately needs a good designer like Giugiaro. Its current lineup is not impressive, at all (well Lambos are though).

[svxcess]

A nice article can be found in Autoweek HERE

From the article:

"The move is consistent with VW's plan to be the world's largest automaker by 2018, with sales of 10 million vehicles a year. To reach that goal, VW's 10-brand group, including Porsche, will need more designers and engineers.

In 2010 alone, VW group plans to add 60 models, including upgrades."



Not too bad for a little company that started in Germany 73 years ago.

.

[sabin]

started 73 years ago as a state sponsored project in nazi germany

[benebob]

http://www.pistonheads.com/news/defa...?storyId=21986

VW buys Italdesign

[bwb3]

There was one VW / Italdesign collabortion that has similar features the Subaru XT
http://www.automobilemag.com/feature...ons/index.html

Gene