VW boss Herbert Diess is trimming the group with power towards e-mobility.
But that costs billions.
In the search for fresh capital, a core brand is now also being targeted.
Wolfsburg / Stuttgart - According to a media report, Volkswagen * is apparently considering an IPO of its legendary sports car subsidiary Porsche *.
The move could flush the parent company with fresh capital for the conversion towards electromobility.
In the race with Tesla, the Wolfsburg-based company could make up ground financially.
Volkswagen is considering various options to increase the market value.
In the medium term, this also includes listing the sports car subsidiary on the stock exchange, the Manager Magazin wrote on Thursday, citing insiders.
However, a maximum of 25 percent of the shares would be given up.
This would correspond to a value of 20 to 25 billion euros.
According to the paper, however, one member of the group's top management pointed out that this would no longer work in 2021.
Volkswagen itself did not want to officially comment on the subject.
VW: Sports car maker keeps causing speculation
In the past there was always speculation about the future of Porsche.
The Swabians are considered a pearl of income.
Analysts had regularly complained that the value of the subsidiary was not reflected in the Volkswagen share price.
It was only at the beginning of February that Daimler announced that it would split off the truck division and go public.
That had spurred the share price and also reignited speculation about Porsche.
The traditional carmakers are increasingly falling behind with investors compared to the electric car pioneer Tesla.
The Californian e-car pioneer is now worth around 640 billion euros on the stock exchange, a good three times as much as VW, Daimler and BMW combined.
VW: Group boss Diess needs billions for group restructuring
Diess wants to transform the group from a pure vehicle manufacturer to a software and service-driven mobility and technology group.
That devours billions, but on the other hand it is also seen as indispensable in order to protect oneself against the market power of the American and Asian IT giants as well as newcomers like Tesla.
Apple is testing technology for autonomous driving - for years there have been persistent rumors that the company could get into car manufacturing itself with partners.
Google invests large sums in technologies related to autonomous driving.
VW: New challengers with strong capital
“Our market valuation is still in the area of the old auto industry,” Diess recently told the Bloomberg news agency.
"This leads to serious disadvantages for us in terms of access to the resources we need." Fresh money would also help the VW Group to overcome the current slump in sales caused by the corona pandemic.
The group closed 2020 with a drop in sales of a good 15 percent.
The year-end spurt was successful, and deliveries of electric and hybrid cars also increased significantly.
However, this was also due to the government purchase subsidies and - in the case of other drives - to pull-forward effects among customers due to the end of the VAT reduction.
