Volkswagen’s planned sale of Ducati and transmissions maker Renk doesn’t enjoy a majority backing on the company’s supervisory board, with those opposing the sale citing the group’s recent strong results.
The VW Group has assigned banks to evaluate options for Ducati and Renk, including selling the two companies as part of its streamline process while Europe’s largest car company looks for ways to fund its strategic overhaul on the post-Dieselgate era.
Reuters reports that VW’s labor leaders, who occupy half of the seats on the 20-member supervisory board, are resisting a sale of Ducati and Renk without a solid financial reason.
“The employee representatives on Volkswagen’s supervisory board will neither approve a sale of Ducati, nor one of Renk or MAN Diesel & Turbo,” a spokesman for VW group’s works council said late on Saturday.
“Everyone who can read the VW half-year results should know: We don’t need money and our subsidiaries are not up for grabs by bargain hunters.”
VW Group announced last Thursday that their half-year operating profit jumped 19-percent to 8.9 billion euros ($10.46 billion in current exchange rates), with cost cuts and R&D improvements at the core VW brand giving them a respite from the billions of euros in fines, vehicle refits and compensation related to its dieselgate scandal.
Even the Porsche and Piech families, who control the 52 percent of voting shares in VW and occupy four seats at the supervisory board, don’t support selling Ducati or Renk, according to inside sources.
“The management board has not even asked the supervisory board of Volkswagen, where such sales have to be ratified for its approval,” the works council spokesman said. “Therefore we advise all supposedly interested parties: Save your time to check any books. A sale will not happen.”
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