Volkswagen Group Buys 90.1% of Italdesign Giugiaro

Ending days of rumors, the Volkswagen Group announced Tuesday it was buying a 90.1 per cent stake in Italian design firm and Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A. as part of its global expansion plan, without, however, giving out any information on the financial aspects of the deal.

The German automaker said that the shares are being acquired by AUDI's Italian subsidiary Lamborghini Holding S.p.A., while the Giuigiaro family will keep a 9.9 per cent stake in the Italian company that generates sales of over €100 million (US$122 million) and has a workforce of some 800 employees.

"The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign. The company will therefore be making an important contribution to our 2018 global growth strategy," said VW CEO Martin Winterkorn.

Italdesign's Giorgetto Giugiaro said: "Becoming part of the Volkswagen Group means revaluating ourselves and our strength. Entering Volkswagen means to open up a promising perspective for the company."

Founded in Turin by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani in 1968, the Italian styling house has created many vehicles models for the VW Group including the Golf I and concepts for important models such as the first Volkswagen Passat, Scirocco and the Audi 80.

Italdesign has also worked on a series of models for the Fiat Group including the Fiat Punto and Grande Punto and Alfa Romeo 156 /159 and Brera.

It remains to be seen if Italdesign Giugiaro will continue to work on projects for other automakers in the future or if the company will concentrate on the VW Group's portfolio.