Early next week Volkswagen AG will probably announce that they will have bought a controlling stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A., Italy’s largest design and engineering firm, according to two inside industry sources as reported by Automotive News Europe.
Volkswagen and Italdesign representatives declined to comment on the rumors, but the German car manufacturer will be buying into one of Italy’s iconic design and engineering company. Co-founded by the famous designer Giorgetto Giugiaro in 1968, Italdesign currently employs 975 people mostly based at the headquarters in Moncalieri, 10 miles south of Italy’s industrial capital Turin.
Last January, Italdesign stipulated a half-billion dollar deal cooperation agreement with Hybrid Kinetic Motors (HK Motors) for the styling and engineering of a family of hybrid vehicles that will be produced at a new plant in Baldwin County, Alabama, with the start of production scheduled in 2013.
Both Giugiaros are expected to continue working at Italdesign, but we have no idea if they will be able to continue doing other work outside the Volkswagen Group if the deal goes through.