VW Plans To Spin Off Bentley And Lamborghini

What follows is ugly because it involves axing platforms not widely shared among the brands, like the proposed SPE architecture Porsche was going to develop for future EV sports cars. "Complexity is the biggest thorn in the side of efficiency," said Volkswagen CEO Herbert Diess. "One secret to success in the car business is total modularity and scalability."

Among the remaining EV platforms will be the compact to midsize MEB, mid to full-size PPE, and Porsche Taycan-carrying J1 platforms. Some combustion engine-friendly platforms, like MQB that underpins the Golf, will likely remain intact. Others, like the Audi A4 and A6's MLB platform, have uncertain futures.

But the floor doesn't lie there, VW could push forward with the cost cutting by offloading low-volume halo brands like Ducati, Italdesign, Bentley, Bugatti, and possibly even Lamborghini. The former two are already poised to be spun off, and Bugatti may be shuffled over to ex Volkswagen chairman Ferdinand Piëch. Lamborghini's future may be safe with Porsche or Audi if either of the two decides to take in the Italian brand, but there's a strong chance that Bentley is sold off to Chinese buyers by the time 2030 rolls around. The reasoning behind getting rid of Bentley, as a senior strategist told Automobile, is its lack of forward thinking. "Why invest on a backward-looking enterprise when you can support a trendsetter?" they said. "A proud history and excellent craftsmanship alone don't cut it anymore." In its place could be a new brand by VW that will sell only electric cars, much like Tesla. To state the obvious, this will leave Volkswagen AG looking a lot different than it does today and will break our hearts as the reshuffling could leave some of our favorite brands in states of precarity. But hey, nobody said change was easy.