Photo: Audi
The destinies of Volkswagen and Audi have been intertwined for decades. Their love story began in the 1960s, when Volkswagen bought Auto Union from Daimler, and despite some rough times following that moment, the four-ringed brand managed to become in modern days one of the pillars of the German auto industry.
Even after all these years, Volkswagen did not hold full control over Audi. Sure, it had a crushing majority – 99.64 percent – but some other people and groups were also involved. That will change as of this month.
As rumored ever since two months ago, Volkswagen moved during the annual general meeting to buy out the remaining shares to a stake of 100 percent. German stock corporation law calls this squeeze-out, but that sounds a bit more violent than it actually is.
Instead of robbing minority shareholders of their stock, VW will pay them €1,551.53 per Audi share ($1,827.7 at today’s exchange rate). The number of shares Volkswagen is expected to buy is over 150,000, which should translate into a total cost for the group of about €230 million ($274 million).
“The Volkswagen Group is now consolidating all its strength. We are positioning ourselves competitively throughout the Volkswagen Group and lifting Group synergies and economies of scale to a new level,” said in a statement Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management.
As a result of the move, Duesmann moved to the position of Group research and development lead, and is also responsible for making the new Car.Software organization (tasked with in-house software development) a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
For the average Audi buyer, the changes will probably mean nothing. The VW group will continue to see the brand as one of the most important in the portfolio, so we expect Audi to keep raising the bar when it comes to the cars it makes.
As rumored ever since two months ago, Volkswagen moved during the annual general meeting to buy out the remaining shares to a stake of 100 percent. German stock corporation law calls this squeeze-out, but that sounds a bit more violent than it actually is.
Instead of robbing minority shareholders of their stock, VW will pay them €1,551.53 per Audi share ($1,827.7 at today’s exchange rate). The number of shares Volkswagen is expected to buy is over 150,000, which should translate into a total cost for the group of about €230 million ($274 million).
“The Volkswagen Group is now consolidating all its strength. We are positioning ourselves competitively throughout the Volkswagen Group and lifting Group synergies and economies of scale to a new level,” said in a statement Markus Duesmann, Chairman of the Board of Management.
As a result of the move, Duesmann moved to the position of Group research and development lead, and is also responsible for making the new Car.Software organization (tasked with in-house software development) a force to be reckoned with in the industry.
For the average Audi buyer, the changes will probably mean nothing. The VW group will continue to see the brand as one of the most important in the portfolio, so we expect Audi to keep raising the bar when it comes to the cars it makes.
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