Bugatti And Bentley (And Others) Are Safe: VW Won't Sell Any Of Its Brands

We've heard rumors that the VW Group is going to axe slow-selling models to help offset the financial hit from Dieselgate. There has also been talk of selling off some brands. Selling off a brand or two would bring in a much-needed cash infusion-and take some costs off the books-but that's not an option, this according to the Group's supervisory board chairman, Hans Dieter Poetsch. He told German newspaper Boersen-Zeitung (and picked up by Reuters) that selling off brands isn't part of the Group's plan to weather the storm.

The Volkswagen group is financially solid and has many options for financing. And that is without extraordinary measures such as a capital increase. That is not being considered at this time. We are also not thinking of selling parts of our brands," he stated. This may sound like an arrogant stance to take, but the reality is that the VW Group will probably be just fine and won't need to sell off any of its brands to pay what it owes. Despite the lawsuits its facing around the world the VW Group may take the title of world's largest automaker come 2016. Volkswagen the brand may be doing poorly in the US but Audi and Porsche are killing in sales. Lamborghini has big expansion plans as well. And you can bet Bugatti isn't going anywhere.

In Europe, Volkswagen offers a brand and car for just about every single segment of the market, and it's this stranglehold that ensures automakers such as Seat and Skoda will stay in the fold. Even a company like Bentley likely isn't going anywhere. All the inter-group platform and technology sharing drives down the development costs on even the priciest models, such as the Bentayga SUV. So what will the VW Group do, if anything, to offset its billions of dollars in penalties? Well, according to Poetsch, everything has already been done. "The items that seem most likely are reflected in the provisions made so far. From today's point of view, that is robust."