Porsche buy launches VW drive for world domination

BERLIN — Volkswagen's triumphant bid to take over luxury German carmaker Porsche marks the end of a bitter family power struggle and the start of a drive to become the world's top auto manufacturer.

"VW and Porsche are entering a new era -- the company has the means to become number one," pipping Japan's Toyota by 2018, chief executive Martin Winterkorn said Friday at company headquarters in Wolfsburg, northern Germany.

Volkswagen, already Europe's biggest automaker, and Porsche, maker of the legendary 911 sports car, agreed to a tie-up late Thursday after nearly four years of brinkmanship and infighting.

The full acquisition, which will also entail the Gulf state of Qatar taking a stake in Porsche and which VW estimates will produce three billion euros (four billion dollars) in synergies, should be complete by 2011.

It closes an ugly chapter in the history of Germany's illustrious auto sector that began in late 2005, when two of the industry's biggest names crossed swords in a duel for control of the empire.

In the beginning, it was Porsche that sought to buy VW in a bid to drive down the average carbon dioxide emissions of its fleet before new European anti-pollution legislation comes into effect in 2012.

VW's efficient Polo and Skoda models were to offset Porsche's greenhouse-gas-spewing muscle cars.

Porsche, which already uses VW assembly lines, also aimed to protect its powerful but insular partner against potential foreign investors.

The Stuttgart-based manufacturer tried to acquire 75 percent of the shares in VW but the attempt backfired in May against the backdrop of the financial crisis, which hit the auto market hard and produced a crippling credit crunch. link.....