Volkswagen Swallows Up Giugiaro, Good For VWAG?

I'm a bit confused about VW lately. I like that they've purchased Bentley, Lambo, Porsche, etc & allowed them to retain their own brand character. But I haven't been "blown away" by many of the newer VW brand vehicles. Really....the German brand was reknown in the US for having small & midsize car options that just made sense --- even-though many Americans scoffed at owning a VW.---- but they were cute though (New Beetle, Golf). They toyed with affordable luxury in the Passat W8 4Motion and Phaeton and then just gave that side-mission up. But as their small cars have gotten larger, they haven't really gotten better visually.

The only recent VW I've honestly lusted for: Touareg V10 TDI 4Motion - loaded. It's an urban tank capable of pulling a foreclosed home down Main Street while offering supple leather seating with enough gadgetry to satisfy all my geeky pleasures. Not many of today's VWs offer passionate exterior design that quickly becoming a major concern.

It's probably a good move for VWAG - They have a number of brands that will share parts and platforms and will need help in developing unique styling to differentiate them. For example - Skoda, VW, SEAT, Suzuki and Audi will probably all develop some version of the Golf - so they will rely on some styling cues to help differente the models. Otherwise, VW could wind up like GM in the '80s where they had one platform with just different grills and tail lights differentiating the various brands (think Olds Ciera, Chevy Celebrity, Pontiac 6000, Buick Century).

For ItalDesign, it will give them access to deep pockets; however, I would venture that they will probably lose their other clients. Clients won't want their design language / DNA incorporated into VWAG designs and clients want to ensure that VWAG is not pulling the best designs / designers from ItalDesign and providing lower level of service to others.

What then happens to Walter De Silva? Is the purchase of Ital Design a move to indicate he is no longer needed. Or does it means that VW is planning to ditch Seat and acquire Alfa Romeo. Having an Italian design firm can mean a continuity with it's Italian owned brands-IE-Lamborghini and maybe Alfa.Ital Design has a distinctive Italian take(as it should) on car design. The original Golf,Scirocco etc. had a distinct Italian flair about them. Very crisp tight straight edge designs.Fabrizio did his take on the Ford Mustang(quite attractive I might add).So I'm a little confused by the buy other then it may signal a move by VW that it wants to make a profound design change harking back to the original VW FWD design language from the 70's.