SEAT

SEAT, S.A. (English pronunciation: , “say-at”; Spanish pronunciation: ) is a Spanish automobile manufacturer founded in 1950 by the Instituto Nacional de Industria (INI), with initial Fiat assistance, and now a wholly owned subsidiary of the German Volkswagen Group. Its headquarters are at Martorell near Barcelona, Spain, and is legally inscribed in the official Mercantile Register of Barcelona, book 23662, folio 1, sheet B-56-855.

SEAT is an acronym for Sociedad Espa?ola de Autom?viles de Turismo, or in English Spanish Passenger Car Company.

Initially, SEAT manufactured rebadged Fiat models which differed very little visually from the products of the Italian parent. The SEAT Panda (later restyled as SEAT Marbella) for example was based on the Fiat Panda. The SEAT 600, based on Fiat 500, was the first car for many Spanish families, and became a symbol of the Spanish Miracle.

The first car under the new SEAT logo without Fiat involvement appeared in 1982, and was called the SEAT Ronda. This was a restyled Fiat Ritmo, and sparked a lawsuit from Fiat against SEAT, as the former claimed the car was still too similar to the Ritmo. The then president of SEAT, Juan Miguel Anto?anzas, showed a Ronda to the press with all the parts different from the Fiat Ritmo painted in bright yellow, to highlight the differences. This ended the dispute. Rumour at the time had it that Fiat was angry because the Ronda restyling was in fact too close to their own planned restyling for the Fiat Ritmo, which they had to scrap.

After the withdrawal of Fiat in 1981, the Volkswagen Group subsidiary Audi AG signed a cooperation agreement with SEAT, becoming the major shareholder in 1986, and 100% owner of the company in 1990. During the mid 2000s, the ownership of the SEAT company was realigned, with Audi AG transferring ownership of SEAT to the top-tier holding company Volkswagen Group.

Type
Subsidiary of Volkswagen Group

Founded
1950

Founder(s)
Instituto Nacional de Industria

Headquarters
Martorell, Catalonia, Spain

Area served
Europe,
Africa,
Central America,
South America,
Middle East,
Asia

Industry
Automotive

Products
Cars

Services
design, manufacture and distribution of SEAT cars

Employees
14,500 (2006)

Parent
Volkswagen Group

Divisions
SEAT Sport

Website
SEAT.com

wikipedia

Skoda

?koda Auto is an automobile manufacturer in the Czech Republic. In 1991, it became a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group.

Type
Private subsidiary of Volkswagen Group

Founded
1895 as Laurin & Klement

Founder(s)
V?clav Laurin and
V?clav Klement

Headquarters
Mlad? Boleslav, Czech Republic

Area served
Global
(except North America)

Key people
Reinhard Jung
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Hans Dieter P?tsch
Chairman of the Supervisory Board

Industry
Automotive industry

Products
Automobiles

Revenue
? ?8.5 billion (2007)

Profit
15.94 billion Koruna/$990 million (2008)

Employees
27,680 (2007)

Parent
Volkswagen Group

Website
?koda-Auto.com

Lamborghini

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini, is an Italian manufacturer of sports cars, based in the small Italian village of Sant’Agata Bolognese, near Bologna. The company was founded in 1963 by businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini, who owned a successful tractor factory, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A..

In 1998, Lamborghini became a subsidiary of the German car manufacturer Audi AG, which is in turn a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group.

Type
Subsidiary and marque of Audi AG, part of Volkswagen Group

Founded
1963

Founder
Ferruccio Lamborghini

Headquarters
Sant’Agata Bolognese, Italy

Area served
Worldwide

Key people
Stephan Winkelmann,
Chief executive officer

Industry
Automotive

Products
Automobiles

Parent
Audi AG

Website
Lamborghini.com

Bentley Motors Limited

Bentley Motors Limited is an English manufacturer of luxury automobiles and Grand Tourers. Bentley Motors was founded in England on 18 January 1919 by Walter Owen Bentley, known as W.O. Bentley or just “W.O.” He was previously known for his successful range of rotary aero-engines in World War I, the most famous being the Bentley BR1 as used in later versions of the Sopwith Camel. Since 1998 the company has been owned by the Volkswagen Group of Germany.

Type
Subsidiary of Volkswagen Group

Founded
18 January 1919

Founder
Walter Owen Bentley

Headquarters
Crewe, England, UK

Area served
Worldwide

Key people
Dr. Franz-Josef Paefgen, CEO

Industry
Manufacturing

Products
Cars

Employees
4000 (2006)

Parent
Volkswagen Group

Website
BentleyMotors.com

AUDI

AUDI AG, (Xetra: NSU), commonly known as Audi (pronounced /a??di/), is a German automobile manufacturer which produces Audi branded cars, with headquarters in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. Audi has been an almost wholly-owned (99.7%) subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen AG) since 1964 (when the group was formerly known as “Volkswagen Audi Group” – VAG), and is held in ownership by its shareholders?? hence the term “Aktiengesellschaft” or “AG”. The company evolved from Volkswagen Group’s takeover of both Auto Union, and NSU Motorenwerke AG (NSU), the former having incorporated the historic Audi company which was founded in 1910.

Audi’s corporate tagline is Vorsprung durch Technik, meaning “Advancement through Technology”. This German-language tagline is also used in other European countries, including the United Kingdom, and in other markets, such as Latin America, Oceania and parts of Asia including Japan. The North American tagline is “Innovation through technology”, but in Canada the German tagline Vorsprung durch Technik is now used in advertising.

Type
Private company,
subsidiary of Volkswagen Group
(FWB Xetra: NSU)

Founded
Zwickau, Germany (1910)

Founder
August Horch

Headquarters
Ingolstadt, Germany

No. of locations
production locations:
Germany:
Ingolstadt & Neckarsulm;
Hungary: Gy?r;
Belgium: Brussels;
Brazil: Curitiba;
China: Changchun

Area served
Worldwide

Key people
Rupert Stadler
Chairman of the Board of Management,
Martin Winterkorn
Chairman of the Supervisory Board (Volkswagen AG)

Industry
Automotive industry

Products
Automobiles, Engines

Revenue
? ? 33.617 billion (2007)

Profit
? ? 2.915 billion (2007)

Total equity
37.0%

Employees
53,347 (2007)

Subsidiaries
quattro GmbH,
Lamborghini S.p.A.,
Audi Hungaria Motor Kft

Website
Audi.com

Porsche, Relationship with Volkswagen

Relationship with Volkswagen
The company has always had a close relationship with Volkswagen Group because the first Volkswagen Beetle was designed by Ferdinand Porsche. The two companies collaborated in 1969 to make the VW-Porsche 914 and 914-6, whereby the 914-6 had a Porsche engine, and the 914 had a Volkswagen engine, in 1976 with the Porsche 912E (USA only) and the Porsche 924, which used many Audi components and was built at Audi’s Neckarsulm factory. Most Porsche 944s also were built there although they used far fewer VW components. The Cayenne, introduced in 2002, shares its entire chassis with Volkswagen Touareg, which is built at the factory in Bratislava. Audi is a wholly owned subsidiary of Volkswagen. In late 2005, Porsche took an 18.65% stake in the Volkswagen Group, further cementing their relationship, and preventing a takeover of Volkswagen, which was rumored at the time. Speculated suitors included DaimlerChrysler AG, BMW, and Renault.

On 26 March 2007, Porsche took its holding of Volkswagen shares to 30.9%, triggering a takeover bid under German law. Porsche then formally announced in a press statement that it did not intend to take over Volkswagen (it would set its offer price at the lowest possible legal value), but intended the move to avoid a competitor taking a large stake or to stop hedge funds dismantling VW, which is Porsche’s most important partner. Porsche’s move comes after the European Union moved against a German law that protected VW from takeovers. Under the so-called “Volkswagen Law”, any shareholder with more than 20% of the voting rights has veto power over any corporate decision in the annual general meeting – in effect, any shareholder in VW cannot exercise more than 20% of the firm’s voting rights, regardless of their level of stock holding. Hovewer, the European Court of Justice ruled against the law, potentially paving the way for a takeover.

In 16 September 2008 Porsche increased its shares in another 4.89%, in effect taking control of the company, with more than 35% of the voting rights. It again triggered a takeover bid, but this time over Audi. Porsche dismissed the bid as a mere formality, since its Porsche intention to keep the corporate structure of the Volkswagen Group.

There has been some tension and anxiety amongst the Volkswagen workers, who fear that a Porsche takeover might signify a hardened production efficiency control, rejection of demands for payment rises or even personnel cuts.

Corporate Restructure
With the Volkswagen stake acquisition, Porsche intends on reforming the company’s format, with Dr Ing. h. c. F. Porsche AG becoming a subsidiary of a newly formed holding company called Porsche Automobil Holding SE, so as to separate the operating activities from holding activities of the company. There was an Extraordinary General Meeting for Porsche AG shareholders which took place on June 26, 2007 at the Porsche Arena in Stuttgart, Germany to discuss the change to the company structure.

On 3 March 2008 Porsche set the stage for obtaining a majority stake in the fellow Volkswagen. Porsche sought on 4 March 2008 to allay fears it would attempt to force a merger with Volkswagen. By September of that year, Porsche owned a 35.14% majority stake in Volkswagen effectively giving it control over the company.

Wikipedia

Lamborghini

Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini, is an Italian manufacturer of sports cars, based in the small Italian village of Sant’Agata Bolognese, near Bologna. The company was founded in 1962 by businessman Ferruccio Lamborghini, who owned a successful tractor factory, Lamborghini Trattori S.p.A..
Lamborghini is now a subsidiary of the German luxury car manufacturer, Audi AG, which is in turn a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group.
The Revent?n, a limited production automobile, is one of the fastest and most expensive of the Italian sports cars.

Wikipedia