[sundayDriver]

They do that now. R8/Gallardo, Toureg/Cayenne, A3/GTI... etc.

Porsche has already said there would be no more "toys" such as the Veyron though.

It's ok now with the parts sharing - only just.  But some models compete more directly, e.g. TTS cab vs Boxster/S, and it'd be sad if a model was deleted or engineered to be less than it's potential.

Still, I like the look of the TT better than the Cayman (in general), so if they made a mid engined TTS, that'd be good.

[flamestone]

or engineered to be less than it's potential.

Isn't that already the case within the Porsche range?   

[AshSimmonds]

Porsche receives $A19.6b credit line

Sports-car manufacturer Porsche SE said that it has received a new credit line of 10 billion euros ($A19.63 billion) to buy up shares of fellow German carmaker Volkswagen AG.

The loan agreement would also allow Stuttgart-based Porsche to expand the loan to 12.5 billion euros ($A24.23 billion) over the coming weeks, it said.

The agreement extended a credit line that expires this month that Porsche has been using to buy Volkswagen shares. It wants to expand its current 50.76 per cent share of Volkswagen, Europe's largest carmaker, to 75 per cent this year.

The approval of the new line of credit had been delayed because of the "extremely difficult world economic environment and turbulence in the credit markets," Porsche said.

The lending banks had imposed additional reviews before approving the loan, Porsche added.

Fifteen banks are providing the credit: Barclays Capital, Commerzbank AG, Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg, Deutsche Bank AG, UBS AG, Credit Suisse Group AG, Banco Santander SA, Bayerische Landesbank, BNP Paribas SA, Calyon, UniCredit SpA/HVB Group, Helaba, Intesa Sanpaolo SpA, WestLB AG and DZ-Bank AG.

http://www.drive.com.au/Editorial/ArticleDetail.aspx?ArticleID=61763&vf=26

[AshSimmonds]

Porsche Mired In Debt

All is not well for Porsche, the German carmaker that appeared Tuesday to have made a killing from hedging shares of Volkswagen. While the company announced an astonishing 6.8 billion euros ($9.0 billion) in net profit booked on cash-settled options of Volkswagen shares, up from 850 million euros ($1.1 billion) last year, it said its net debt stood at a higher than expected 9.0 billion euros ($12.0 billion).

The value of Volkswagen shares, now 23.0% higher than at this time last year, has been driven up by expectations that Porsche (other-otc: POAHF - news - people ) would increase its 51.05% stake in the German carmaker to beyond 75.0% so that it can gain majority control under German law. The stock jumped again last week, when Porsche said it had renewed a 10.0 billion euro ($13.3 billion) credit facility that it could expand by another 2.5 billion euros ($3.3 billion).

But the company’s mounting debt pile is making a stake-raising maneuver look more unlikely. “People are questioning if Porsche is actually able to go to 75.0% with these [debt] numbers today, and some are coming to the conclusion now that it’s not possible,” said Tim Schuldt, an analyst at Equinet in Frankfurt.

Shares of Volkswagen slipped by 10.42 euros ($13.85), or 4.4%, to 225.08 euros ($299.17), on Tuesday morning in Frankfurt, while Porsche lost 1.68 euros ($2.23), or 4.5%, to 35.36 euros ($46.99).

One analyst estimates that it will cost 9.0 billion euros ($12.2 billion) for Porsche to increase its stake in VW to 75.0%.

While Porsche might seem wealthy because of the success of its options trades, none of the 6.8 billion euros it booked in the past six months is attributable to cash flow. It is essentially just a number on the company’s balance sheet, which grew as VW’s share price climbed. That is, until Porsche decides to use it to increase its stake in Volkswagen or alternatively to settle the options and cash in. Schuldt estimates the options to be worth 8.0 billion euros ($10.6 billion) in all.

Unfortunately for Porsche, either move looks unwise at the moment. If it prepares to settle the options, myriad hedge funds and institutional investors that hold Volkwagen shares will immediately short their holdings, or bet that their value will fall, drastically reducing the amount of cash that Porsche can get from its sale.
Comment On This Story

Increasing its stake in Volkswagen also seems inadvisable since the European Court of Justice has yet to rule on Germany’s so-called Volkswagen Law, which allows a stakeholder with as much as 20.0% of a company to block a takeover. “If the Volkswagen Law is abandoned, then you don’t need this 75.0% share position, so makes sense to have the option to sit tight,” said Schuldt.

The German state of Lower Saxony is Volkswagen’s second-largest shareholder, with a 20.3% (blocking) stake, but it is widely expected that the European Court will not make its decision until at least the end of 2009, and its outcome will be a clear determinant of Porsche’s decision whether to raise its stake past 75.0%.
Markets Brief March 31, 2009 09:40 AM EDT
Euro Stocks Out Of The Gutter

Porsche, like any other automaker these days, is meanwhile struggling to sell its main product: cars. Turnover at Porsche fell in the first half of its fiscal year by 12.8%, to 3.0 billion euros ($4.0 billion), while sales dropped by 26.7%, to 34,266 units.

For now, the company is beholden to the whims of the market: “The effect on the full-year results for the 2008/09 business year will depend on the development of the price of the Volkswagen shares in the period until July 31, 2009,” Porsche said Tuesday.

http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/31/porsche-volkswagen-options-markets-equity-automotive.html

[Rat Boy]

This is getting to be a joke now...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aOzFJMfSU7T4&refer=home

Porsche, Piech Families Said to Sell Car Assets to Volkswagen
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By Aaron Kirchfeld

April 23 (Bloomberg) -- The Porsche and Piech families plan to sell their main car assets to Volkswagen AG under a plan that would tighten Porsche SE’s grip on Europe’s biggest automaker, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The families, which control at least 51 percent of Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW, intend to sell the Austrian Porsche Holding GmbH unit and the Porsche AG automotive division to VW in return for cash and VW shares, said the people, who declined to be identified because the plan is confidential. As part of the transaction, Porsche SE will issue new shares, a portion of which may be sold to external investors, they said. The plan is backed by VW, the people said.

The asset sale would allow Porsche SE to achieve its aim for greater control of VW, Europe’s largest carmaker, while preserving cash and giving it funds to repay rising debt, three people familiar with the situation said earlier this month. Porsche, based in Stuttgart, Germany, is struggling to raise the financing needed to reach its goal of obtaining 75 percent of VW, they said.

“One driving motivation is that Volkswagen, being the largest volume producer in the European space, has tremendous cost efficiency that could be married to Porsche’s discipline and lean production capacity,” Stephen Pope, chief global strategist at Cantor Fitzgerald in London, said by telephone.

Frank Gaube, a spokesman for Porsche, and Michael Brendel, a VW spokesman, declined to comment.

The transaction would result in the creation of a major automotive holding company spanning cars, trucks and luxury vehicles, the people said earlier this month.

The Porsche and Piech families together control half of Porsche SE. Porsche AG is the operating unit that’s the maker of the 911 sports car and competes with Bayerische Motoren Werke AG. Austrian Porsche Holding is Porsche’s eastern European distribution division.

To contact the reporters on this story: Angela Cullen in Frankfurt at acullen8@bloomberg.net; Aaron Kirchfeld in Frankfurt at akirchfeld@bloomberg.net;

Last Updated: April 23, 2009 06:46 EDT