Volkswagen, Porsche Found Auto Union

Volkswagen and Porsche are still discussing on the terms of their deal but it appears that most of the issues have already been resolved. This is what a board member said, revealing that the group resulting from the deal will be called "Auto Union", a joint venture that would be led by VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Details are still unconfirmed for the time being but Winterkorn has already emphasized his intentions to keep Porsche an independent brand, becoming the tenth brand of the Volkswagen Group, working alongside Skoda, SEAT and Bentley.

"Questions over valuation have been resolved," one of the board members told Reuters on Wednesday.

Volkswagen will take over 49 percent of Porsche AG, but the final terms of the deal are expected to be finally approved by the company's supervisory board on Thursday.

Volkswagen and Porsche announced in mid-July that they would form a new automotive group, with the latter to continue to operate as an independent company based in Stuttgart. Additionally, Qatar will also get a seat among Volkswagen's shareholders and will act as a "strategic partner committed to supporting the goal of an integrated automotive group". The Piech family will still hold a share in the new entity.

"The envisaged union of Volkswagen and Porsche follows a compelling industrial logic and offers promising perspectives: it makes two strong companies even stronger. Volkswagen and Porsche have excellent know-how at their disposal and can use their resources even more efficiently by combining them. For this reason, we expect additional growth opportunities, safeguarding existing jobs and creating new ones," Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, said.