Volkswagen has likely received a billion dollar bid to buy its Lamborghini sports car company. The newly formed Quantum Group, together with the London-based investment company Centricus Asset Management, has made an initial bid of € 7.5 billion, Autocar magazine reported Tuesday, citing the purchase documents. Both Volkswagen President Herbert Deiss and Audi President Marcus Dossmann learned of the offer. An Audi spokesman said the Lamborghini was not for sale.
“This is not the subject of any discussion in the group,” an Audi spokesman said. Centricus could not be reached for comment. Lamborghini has been a part of Audi since 1998.
According to the report, the Quantum Rhea Stark, who is considered a close friend of Anton Piech, is the son of the former Volkswagen Supervisory Board Ferdinand Piech. The two men together founded the electric car company Beech Automotive, where Matthias Muller is also the former Porsche boss. In the report, it said it was currently unclear whether Bisch and Mueller were directly involved in the bid.
Beach Automotive has announced that it is working on a two-seater electric sports car that can be charged in less than five minutes. The first test car will be presented at the end of 2022. According to the magazine’s report, the focus of the Quantum Group is the acquisition of Lamborghini, including its motorsport activities and the plant in Sant’Agata, Italy. The sports car manufacturer should become “the spearhead of innovation”.
In addition to purchasing Lamborghini, Quantum is proposing a strategic partnership with VW that includes exchanging intellectual property and developing and manufacturing batteries. A program and technology development center for self-driving cars is planned, and up to 850 new jobs could be created in this way. A Lamborghini “electrical solution” must be found by 2025.
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