Will future Porsches look more Italian?
05-26-2010 | 11:34 AM
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From: Wishing I Was At The Track
Will future Porsches look more Italian?
Macht and Prueninger would likely claim no influence but time and corporate consolidation marches on...
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...sign&st=Search
May 25, 2010, 11:12 am
VW Buys Italian Design Firm
By PHIL PATTON
The first Volkswagen Golf (a 1974 model pictured here) could be Italdesign’s most famous design.Italdesign The first Volkswagen Golf (a 1974 model pictured here) could be Italdesign’s most famous design.
The Volkswagen Group is buying a 90.1 percent stake in Italdesign, the companies announced at a press conference in Turin, Italy, on Tuesday morning.
“The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign,” said Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen. “The company will therefore be making an important contribution to our 2018 global growth strategy.”
In recent months, the Volkswagen Group has outlined ambitious plans to increase its model offerings and sales. Additional design studios could help, especially for brands like Suzuki, in which VW bought a 20 percent interest in December. Italdesign does engineering development and short-run production, as well as styling.
Walter de Silva, head of design for the Volkswagen Group, said that all of VW’s global design centers would remain open and that Italdesign, which employs about 900 people and does around $122 million in business annually, would be added to the competition.
Formally called Italdesign-Giugiaro, the design consultancy was established in 1968 by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani.
Lamborghini Holding, Audi’s Italian subsidiary, is acquiring the shares of Italdesign. No price was given, and the remaining shares of the design firm will remain in the hands of the Giugiaro family.
“As the creator of the Golf I, Giorgetto Giugiaro laid a new foundation for Volkswagen design in the 1970s,” Mr. Winterkorn added, referring to one of Italdesign’s most famous designs. Other Italdesign products include the Fiat Panda, Maserati Quattroporte, Subaru SVX, and DeLorean DMC-12.
Volkswagen has long looked toward Italian design houses to bring a touch of style to its vehicles. In the 1950s, VW hired Ghia, the Italian coachbuilder, to design its Karmann-Ghia sports car. Italdesign, based in Moncalieri, south of Turin, was also responsible for the appearance of the Scirocco and other models for Volkswagen.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, 71, appears to have thought hard about the decision to sell the company. If he had any fears about dissolving the identity of his firm in the large corporation of Volkswagen, he seems to have come to terms with them.
“Every drop becomes the sea when it flows oceanward,” he said, referring to the novel “Sophie’s World” by the Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaarder. “We are the drop.”
Mr. Giugiaro said Italdesign would work only with VW now and that clients could either withdraw from current projects or finish them.
The longer term question may be whether Italdesign can retain the freshness of perspective enjoyed by an independent consultancy with many clients.
http://wheels.blogs.nytimes.com/2010...sign&st=Search
May 25, 2010, 11:12 am
VW Buys Italian Design Firm
By PHIL PATTON
The first Volkswagen Golf (a 1974 model pictured here) could be Italdesign’s most famous design.Italdesign The first Volkswagen Golf (a 1974 model pictured here) could be Italdesign’s most famous design.
The Volkswagen Group is buying a 90.1 percent stake in Italdesign, the companies announced at a press conference in Turin, Italy, on Tuesday morning.
“The Volkswagen Group will be continuing its model initiative over the coming years and will benefit from the capacity and competence of Italdesign,” said Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of management of Volkswagen. “The company will therefore be making an important contribution to our 2018 global growth strategy.”
In recent months, the Volkswagen Group has outlined ambitious plans to increase its model offerings and sales. Additional design studios could help, especially for brands like Suzuki, in which VW bought a 20 percent interest in December. Italdesign does engineering development and short-run production, as well as styling.
Walter de Silva, head of design for the Volkswagen Group, said that all of VW’s global design centers would remain open and that Italdesign, which employs about 900 people and does around $122 million in business annually, would be added to the competition.
Formally called Italdesign-Giugiaro, the design consultancy was established in 1968 by Giorgetto Giugiaro and Aldo Mantovani.
Lamborghini Holding, Audi’s Italian subsidiary, is acquiring the shares of Italdesign. No price was given, and the remaining shares of the design firm will remain in the hands of the Giugiaro family.
“As the creator of the Golf I, Giorgetto Giugiaro laid a new foundation for Volkswagen design in the 1970s,” Mr. Winterkorn added, referring to one of Italdesign’s most famous designs. Other Italdesign products include the Fiat Panda, Maserati Quattroporte, Subaru SVX, and DeLorean DMC-12.
Volkswagen has long looked toward Italian design houses to bring a touch of style to its vehicles. In the 1950s, VW hired Ghia, the Italian coachbuilder, to design its Karmann-Ghia sports car. Italdesign, based in Moncalieri, south of Turin, was also responsible for the appearance of the Scirocco and other models for Volkswagen.
Giorgetto Giugiaro, 71, appears to have thought hard about the decision to sell the company. If he had any fears about dissolving the identity of his firm in the large corporation of Volkswagen, he seems to have come to terms with them.
“Every drop becomes the sea when it flows oceanward,” he said, referring to the novel “Sophie’s World” by the Norwegian novelist Jostein Gaarder. “We are the drop.”
Mr. Giugiaro said Italdesign would work only with VW now and that clients could either withdraw from current projects or finish them.
The longer term question may be whether Italdesign can retain the freshness of perspective enjoyed by an independent consultancy with many clients.
