Volkswagen Group foresee further growth potential for Porsche Holding Salzburg

Volkswagen Group and Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) have cultivated a close and successful collaboration for over 60 years. Based on this collaboration the Group brands have achieved high market shares in Austria and all other countries managed by Porsche Holding Salzburg. "PHS will carry forward its tried-and-tested successful business model unchanged under the Volkswagen umbrella. Not only will all the divisions of the company as well as the approximately 21,000 jobs be preserved – indeed, beyond that, new jobs are to be created," said Christian Klingler, Member of the Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft responsible for Sales.

"We have the highest respect for the outstanding work of all the employees of Porsche Holding Salzburg and trust in their continued full commitment for the future. With its professionalism and customer focus, its speed and clout, Porsche Holding Salzburg will become a spearhead for the sales activities of our Group," Klingler continued. The international business in particular is to be further expanded and its activities further extended.

In Austria today, every third newly registered car comes from the Volkswagen Group; Volkswagen has been the uncontested number one on Austrian roads for more than 54 years. "This success story is owed to Porsche Holding Salzburg," said Winterkorn. Not least thanks to PHS, Volkswagen enjoys excellent contacts to Austrian suppliers and the technical universities. "We are going to deepen these contacts at our new location here in Austria," Winterkorn explained.

PHS is one of the most successful private automotive firms in Europe, with a strong presence mainly in Austria, Western and Southeastern Europe as well as China. During the 2010 calendar year, sales of 565,000 new and used cars generated a turnover of EUR 12.84* billion, with an above-average profitability compared to the market. PHS employs around 20,900 people.

Volkswagen has taken over all automotive divisions from Porsche Holding Salzburg (PHS) at a fixed price of EUR 3.3 billion as at 1 March 2011. These include the wholesale and retail business, Porsche Information Technology, the Porsche Bank, Porsche Real Estate and Porsche Insurance Company as well as PGA Motors, with headquarters in Paris. PHS will remain an autonomous entrepreneurial unit as part of the Volkswagen Group.

source: Volkswagen Media Release