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Volkswagen to cease buying frenzy, focus on existing brands: report

By David Zalstein |
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The Volkswagen Group is set to prioritise the development of its current 12 brands before it considers purchasing any more manufacturers, according to reports.

Bloomberg reports Europe’s largest car maker, the ever-expanding Volkswagen Group, intends to focus on the integration of its recent purchases of Porsche, Ducati and heavy-truck maker MAN, with Volkswagen Group CEO Martin Winterkorn saying the group’s current brands are its focus.

“We have enough to do at the moment in taking our 12 brands to where we want to be,” Winterkorn told German newspaper Handelsblatt.

In regards to suggestions of interest in Proton and Alfa Romeo, Winterkorn remained on point saying, “We are currently busy enough with our brands.”

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It’s been a busy year for Volkswagen with the purchase of the remaining 50.1 per cent stake in Porsche agreed on in July, completed in early August, the buying of Italian motorcycle icon Ducati in July and the increase of its share in truck manufacturer MAN in June.

The Volkswagen Group currently encompasses brands such as Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Skoda.

  • Robin_Graves

    Lets hope they also concentrate on making their cars reliable – they could borrow some engineers from Porsche to come and teach them some lessons over at VeeDud.

    • F1MotoGP

       Same for all other cars too and you are getting very boring with this comments about VW. Do you comment on Honda, Toyota, Hyundai…etc quality too?

      • Robin_Graves

        Most other mainstream manufacturers dont have an issue, except maybe Mitsubishi.  VW could be very desirable cars if only they could last the distance. Each manufacturer have compromises.  VeeDud’s is reliability.  Toyota is boring.  Hyundai is steering feel and limited engine choices. Mazda is kind of middle ground.  Ford is image. GM is poor drivelines and cheap build quality. Honda is value.

        • Basil Exposition

          Robin, I agree with you on this one… an accurate assessment based on my experience. Case in point, the gas strut just sheared off the rear body work and a passenger door was stuck fast on my Golf in the last 6 months… Makes for around 25 faults and failures in around 75,000 of driving… Not a good look.

          • JJ

            And completely inaccurate in my assessment.

            Shocking, right?

            I’ve owned 4, that’s 4 VW’s and I’ve never experienced a single issue… oh there was a creak in the door seal once.

            OMFGGGG VW SO BAD.

          • Latin Fish Names

            I have had 2 VWs and both have been poor. Between then I have had around 60 issues, the first one was even worse.  Needless to say I wont be buying another one.

          • Legnab

            YES i had the creak , same after 3, no issues , just that damm creak , fixed it with graphite powder , never came back .

          • Zaccy16

            Exactly! all cars have bad examples but we dont here about all thethousands of problem free VW’s! I have a polo TSI DSG and it is the best car i have owned so far

          • Phil

            If your 1st VW was so bad, why did you buy a 2nd one?

          • Legnab

            TOO right why would you buy another , just robin breathing more myths .

          • Legnab

            TOO right why would you buy another , just robin breathing more myths .

          • Legnab

            More fiction from the grave robber and associates , like axe grinders so miffed that their beloved piece of junk the falcoon is headed for the dump , no one believes your stories .

            VAG sales just keep rising , must be doing something right .

          • Legnab

            More fiction from the grave robber and associates , like axe grinders so miffed that their beloved piece of junk the falcoon is headed for the dump , no one believes your stories .

            VAG sales just keep rising , must be doing something right .

          • Legnab

            More fiction from the grave robber and associates , like axe grinders so miffed that their beloved piece of junk the falcoon is headed for the dump , no one believes your stories .

            VAG sales just keep rising , must be doing something right .

          • Legnab

            More fiction from the grave robber and associates , like axe grinders so miffed that their beloved piece of junk the falcoon is headed for the dump , no one believes your stories .

            VAG sales just keep rising , must be doing something right .

        • AJeans

           Robin, you are so repetitive and boring.  Get over your hatred of VAG

        • Legnab

          Your all over the place grave robber what about your hyundia’s , no now its honda .

          Right about falcoon , image is a tuk tuk , not good , very average build quality , terrible resale , nothing exciting there .

        • Legnab

          Your all over the place grave robber what about your hyundia’s , no now its honda .

          Right about falcoon , image is a tuk tuk , not good , very average build quality , terrible resale , nothing exciting there .

      • twincharger

        In fairness F1.. Honda,Toyota ,Hyundai fans dont thumb there nose at the local made cars like you and the restof your Veedud mates.Toyota one of the 3 local manufactures.

        • Legnab

          And the significance of that comment is zero .

      • F1Motorola

        Funny you should say that, given your penchant for backhanded, belittling compliments towards Lexus vehicles. This kind of thing, regardless of what brand it is directed at, is really getting old.

    • Phil

      Like the Porsche engineers that designed the ‘internal main shafts’ on 986 and 996 Porsche engines?

    • Mike

      VW’s current head of production, Michael Macht, is actually a Porsche guy.

  • Luke Brinsmead

    …and SEAT. I think that’s a wise decision, GM went on a spending spree and look what happened to it in 2009.

  • Mike

    That said, if Alfa or/and Ferrari went up for sale, VW would buy them in a heartbeat.

  • gt86.com.au

    yes because german cars lack soul, and italian cars lack just about everything else ha ha

    • Guest

       And Toyota lacks a car with decent performance!

  • Zaccy16

    They are taking over the world!

  • Greg

    I wished Porsche stayed independantly owned. It’s a shame. That was one of their great appeal. It was a car manufacturer not run by bean counters. Not any more I guess, just another subsidiary of VW.

    • Phil

      Worked well for Lamborgini and Bentley and have you ever seen or heard what Skodas were like before VW took over?

  • Nobody

    VW should really focus on being competitive on their service costs…..capped price servicing will be a good start.

    • Phil

      Like Nissan’s capped price servicing which is generally far more expensive than VW’s existing prices?

    • Glenn59

      Peopel forget that VW’s only need a service every 15,000K or 12 Months - up to double their Japanese competitors.  The reality is that over 100,000K a Golf is cheaper to service than a Corolla.  (There are sites to research car service costs, look them up if you don’t believe me)   

  • Car Fanatic

    Basil, perhaps the issue wasn’t the car but the owner. My Sister had three Subaru’s that all had multiple issues, and like the other VW owners I’ve only had two issues, but brake lights going out aren’t really issues, they are wear and tear.

    Robin, every bodies assessment of you is accurate, you are boring and inept. Probably a mid fifties loser used car salesman.