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Volkswagen reportedly considering selling Ducati

After shelving numerous motorsport programs and putting less-successful model variants on the firing line, Volkswagen is reportedly considering selling off Ducati, its motorcycle division. Ducati joined the Volkswagen Group under Audi in 2012, and it could be valued as high as 1.5 billion euros. Five years ago, Audi paid roughly $935 million for the motorcycle brand, sources said to Reuters. In 2016, Ducati's sales were worth 593 million euros, or nearly $644 million. There isn't a concrete buyer yet set for the deal, and neither Volkswagen or Audi chose to comment on the matter. Neither did Evercore, the investment banking advisory firm selected to evaluate Volkswagen's options on Ducati ownership. The logic behind jettisoning Ducati is likely to be the same as canceling Audi's LeMans program and VW's WRC racing efforts: Volkswagen is focusing on an electric mobility future, as the shadow of Dieselgate stretches far into the coming years. As Reuters says, the original 2012 Ducati deal may have been a Ferdinand Piech vanity project: "Analysts questioned Audi's purchase of Ducati when it was announced in April 2012, saying the deal had no economic or industrial logic and just reflected former VW Chairman Ferdinand Piech's passion for the Italian company's expertise on design and light engines." Piech is now, however, out at Volkswagen and is also selling a major part of his Porsche stock, making it easier for Volkswagen to ditch the Italian bike brand. Reuters' sources mentioned interested parties as being Chinese or Indian, or interestingly, the consortium led by Prodrive's David Richards which acquired Aston Martin a decade ago. News Source: ReutersImage Credit: AOL/Drew Phillips Audi Volkswagen Motorcycle Ducati volkswagen group

IIHS says these are the safest cars of 2013

The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety (IIHS) has revealed its annual list of Top Safety Picks, an award that highlights automobiles it says offer "superior crash protection." A new and still more significant award, the Top Safety Pick+ honor, is given to those vehicles that earn good ratings for occupant protection in four out of five areas of measure. And while some 117 vehicles were given the TSP seal of approval for 2013, just 13 passed muster for TSP+.
To be fair, IIHS only evaluated 29 vehicles with its new testing procedures for TSP+ (we'd expect that the number of qualified cars will rise substantially for 2014). Luxury and Near Luxury midsize cars were the first groups evaluated, followed by midsizers in the Moderately Priced Cars category - unsurprisingly, it's only midsize cars that you'll find among the class this year.
Only two luxury sedans made the list of 13 for 2013: the Acura TL and Volvo S60. The other 11 cars on the list included entries from domestic, Japanese and German car makers: Dodge Avenger, Chrysler 200, Ford Fusion, Honda Accord (sedan and coupe), Kia Optima (but not its close kin, the Hyundai Sonata, strangely), Nissan Altima, Subaru Legacy and Outback, Suzuki Kizashi and the Volkswagen Passat all made the grade.

Volkswagen feuds with thriving stablemate Skoda

BERLIN, Oct 4 (Reuters) - Volkswagen managers and unions are seeking to curb competition from lower-cost stablemate Skoda, move some of its production to Germany and make the Czech brand pay more for shared technology, company sources told Reuters. As VW struggles to cut jobs and spending at German factories and turn the page on dieselgate, Skoda's superior car reviews and profitability have intensified the brands' rivalry within the Volkswagen empire. VW now wants to reduce what it sees as Skoda's unfair advantages - combining German technology with cheaper labor - and reaffirm the top-selling brand's primacy ahead of a wave of new electric car launches, the sources said. The tussle between VW and Skoda is reviving tensions at the heart of the Volkswagen group between profits and jobs, and between central control and autonomy for its 12 vehicle brands. "Instead of devoting our efforts to beating Tesla, we may just be setting up a futile internal conflict," said one manager. Once the butt of jokes, Skoda has blossomed under 26 years of VW group ownership into a successful mid-market carmaker, steadily winning business from rivals - including VW - and surpassing even Audi's operating profit margin last year. At the same time, VW is facing thousands of job cuts as management moves to trim excess capacity at German factories. Its powerful domestic unions see Skoda's success as both a threat and a potential lifeline. VW workers' representatives are now demanding the transfer of some Skoda production to their underused German plants, a source close to the supervisory board told Reuters. The proposal aims to offset declining output of the VW Passat and aging Golf that could otherwise threaten more jobs. They are also making the case that Skoda should pay higher royalties to use VW's main common vehicle platform. The so-called MQB architecture also underpins mid-sized models from the group's Audi and SEAT brands. Responding to the news, Czech Prime Minister Bohuslav Sobotka said he would meet Skoda management and unions to ask for clarification. The government will seek to ensure that VW investment plans are followed through and that "production is not moved outside the country," a statement released by Sobotka's office said. Skoda's main union warned that a production shift could cost as many as 2,000 jobs. VW's works council declined to comment.