Volkswagen Crisis: Who Should Swoop In And Buy Lamborghini Or Bugatti WHEN They Are Put On The Market?

If they sold Lambo, GM should buy it immediately. The Mid-Engine technology and expertise is something GM needs for future Cadillac's and Corvettes and potential other cars. GM is working on a mid-engine car which is probably a done deal but this acquisition could also provide prestige to Cadillac. Imagine Cadillac - Lamborghini dealers with cars side by side. It would attract a whole new buyer and add cache to the Cadillac brand. Perhaps Cadillac does get their own middie but the Lambos cost $100K more, so the buyer can splurge for a Lambo or get a more value based Cadillac. I was at a dealer yesterday and looked at a CTS-VSport. It was $71K which I thought was at least $10K too much, as much as I do like the car, I'd rather have an E Class for that kind of money.. heck $60K does buy an E Class...

And GM even has money to buy any?

No official statement from VW = Just a rumor, meaning, useless speculation.

Right now it is estimated US lawsuits alone will wipe all profits from Volkswagen for 2015 and probably 2016.

The rest of the world hasn't been factored in yet. I think it is a pretty safe bet it isn't "if" it more like "when"

This is just speculation!

While Lamborghini seems to be the perpetual divorcee and Bugatti seems to be a money pit, they are easy targets for this type of CLICK BAIT.

Let's say you are in charge of VW.

Are you sure you would "actually" want to let Bugatti, Lamborghini or Bentley go?

If VW brands are to be sold the German government would engineer the sale to assure BMW or Mercedes were the buyer(s).

If it happens, I'd love to see BMW snap up Lamborghini. It would go quite well with Rolls Royce, and with BMW now the largest automotive supplier of carbon fiber it would be a perfect match for a company like Lamborghini whose cars are typically carbon fiber intensive.

Bugatti is worth nothing - it will go the way of Saab, Pontiac, Plymouth, and Oldsmobile.

Maybe a men's apparel maker will buy it or someone in the men's fragrance or sunglass business.

Don't discount an Middle Eastern investor seeking to gain prestige.

Sorry 009, there will be no interest in Bugatti with oil at less than $50 per barrel. There is no money in middle east now, especially as they will likely have to soon fight a two-front war with Iran, Syria, and Russia. Its bad times in the middle east.

BMW should buy the Lambo to learn to build Supercars and not copy Toyota LFA, Mercedes knows how and have the experience to build Supercars so that would be an incentive for them to build other supermachines, but not sure about the finances of BMW right now.

BMW is one of the most financially secured auto makers out there--they can afford to by Lambo, however, I don't think that they would ever do that...

Wrong!!!

If V.A.G. was going to spin-off any brand for an infusion of cash, Porsche would be the first the go. In all likelihood, V.A.G. would pull a Dailmer Benz and saddle the new owner(s) with long-term contracts that would force them to use V.A.G. sourced parts while retaining a small, but sizable, stake in the newly formed entity.

Sorry - but Porsche is a major money center for VW - and is unlikely to be sold off. Bugatti is unlikely to find a buyer as it has never made money - but since the money in the middle east has dried up to low oil prices - VW might just shelve Bugatti for a while since they would get nothing for it. Although Lambo doesn't make much money - it doesn't loose it either and since they are just bringing out new models that are already engineered - they will likely stay as well. Audi is of course the major cash cow. I really do not know how far they are into development of the next group of Bentley cars to tell if they should get rid of them or not.

It is SEAT that is a serious money loser for VW and since it overlaps with Skoda - cutting SEAT and replacing it with Skoda - which does make money - is the obvious move.

Yes, Porsche makes a lot of money, which makes it attractive to a buyer.

Lamborghini is just a name and a clearing house for some VW tech.
Bugatti is just a demonstration lab for VW future tech.

Porsche is the only brand that VAG could sell, still hold a share and saddle the new buyers with long-term "cooperation" contracts to lower VAG's investment in platforms and engines.

Sorry Tom, but if VAG sells anything, which it will not, Porsche will be at the top of the list because that is the only brand worth buying that they can let go and receive a return.

Guys, maybe we let Porsche buy itself back into independence? Porsche is mega profitable, probably has cash on hand and has a pretty good management team. They can still consult and develop for Bentley, Audi and whoever else as they did before.
T

@TauronB2G

I could easily Porsche freeing, at least in the total administrative control sense, itself from VAG. I do not see VAG letting any of their stable go, but Porsche would be one of the few brands that could buy their own freedom.

Since BMW was supposed to initially get Bentley when they attempted to purchase Rolls Royce, it would not be such a bad idea for Rolls Royce to re-acquire Bentley, if it were to go up for sale. Though I doubt such would every happen--especially with Rolls Royce now accounting well for the absence of the sportier Bentley...

"Two-thirds of Germans still trust Volkswagen after emissions scandal

Polls shows 65% of respondents think the scandal has been exaggerated, and 63% expect it to be forgotten in a year"

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2015/oct/20/two-thirds-of-germans-still-trust-volkswagen-after-emissions-scandal

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Clarkson Shows Off His VW Golf GTI

Although nitrogen is a speciality of the diesel engine and Jezza's turbo-charged 2.0-L petrol GTI produces more CO2 than nitrogen, we know what he is getting at - despite VW breaking all the rules, manufactures are producing cars with powerful yet impressively economical engines, and ultimately VW's deception isn’t enough to drive customers into buying Japanese or Korean vehicles over German.

http://www.celebritycarsblog.com/2015/10/clarkson-vw-golf-gti/

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Germans, and I'm sure a lot of Europeans, are not going to let Volkswagen become weakened.

Lamborghini is under Audi ownership, not VW

And VW owns Audi therefore it owns Lamborghini.

I think Hyundai/Kia should buy Lamborghini and that would be a win/win. Hyundai/Kia has the deep pockets to fund Lamborghini and Lamborghini is the perfect halo brand.

Ya, I think Hyundai should just buy up a country.

Does that sound dumb? Yes, it does. Just like that comment of yours.