Who owns car brands

The automotive industry has always suffered from the fact that the relationship between manufacturers was very difficult to understand. After the global financial crisis severely crippled it in almost all countries, European and American auto giants began to frantically resell their brands. In this confusion, it became unclear who is now in charge of the famous brands. Let's trace the complex history of relationships between the largest automotive brands.

The German Porsche is owned by the Porsche and Pich families - the heirs of the founder of the company Ferdinand Porsche and his sister Louise Piech. The family clan owns key decision-making shares in the company and a small fraction of the preferred shares listed on the German stock exchanges. By the way, the cunning little family has a very significant effect on the German car market. So, for example, Ferdinand Pich (grandson of Ferdinand Porsche), from 1993 to 2002 headed Volkswagen.

In 2009, the family concern acquired its first major foreign shareholder, the Qatari Emirate, which bought out 10% of the holding's shares. By the way, Volkswagen itself is actually owned by Porsche, and vice versa - since 2009, Volkswagen has owned 49.9% of the shares of Porsche AG. Initially, the Volkswagen carmaker was state-owned. It was reorganized into a joint stock company only in 1960, and the federal government of Germany and the government of Lower Saxony received 20% of the shares in its capital each.

In addition to its own production, the Volkswagen group's divisions are currently: Audi (acquired from Daimler-Benz in 1964), Seat (since 1990, the Volkswagen Group owns 99.99% of the shares), Škoda, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini (the company was acquired subsidiary of Audi in 1998)

The Japanese Toyota Motor Corp., whose president is the grandson of the founder of the company Akio Toyoda, owns 6.29% of The Master Trust Bank of Japan, 6.29% - Japan Trustee Services Bank, 5.81% - Toyota Industries Corporation, 9% treasury shares.

Of all the Japanese automakers, only Toyota has a good collection of brands - Lexus, Scion, Daihatsu and Subaru. In addition, the truck manufacturer Hino is part of Toyota Motor.

Honda's achievement is much more modest. In addition to the premium brand Acura and the motorcycle department, the Japanese have nothing more to brag about.

The Peugeot-Citroen carmaker is still 30.3% (45.1% of the voting shares) owned by the Peugeot family. The shares are also owned by the employees of the concern (2.76%), there are also treasury shares (3.07%). The rest of the shares are in free float.

By the way, Peugeot SA acquired 38.2% of Citroën shares back in 1974, and two years later increased this share to 89.95%. So today "Peugeot" almost completely controls the previously independent "Citroen".

Another major global automaker is the Renault-Nissan alliance, which owns brands such as Renault, Dacia, Nissan, Infiniti, Samsung. In addition, Renault-Nissan has owned 50% + 1 share of AvtoVAZ since December 2012, so from now on the Lada brand actually belongs to the French-Japanese alliance.

Over the past 60 years, the Renault concern has been gradually getting out of state control. Until 1945 Renault was 100% privately owned. However, during the war, the factories of the company were destroyed, and Louis Renault himself was accused of collaborating with the Nazis and condemned. A large businessman died in prison, and his company was successfully nationalized. However, over the years, the state share began to decline. And if in 1996 Renault was state-owned more than half, then in 2005 it already owned only 15.7% of the shares. In 1999, Renault and Nissan formed what is arguably the strongest automotive alliance ever. Nissan is 44.4% owned by the French manufacturer, and Renault, in turn, gave 15% of the shares to the Japanese.

The fifth largest automobile concern DaimlerChrysler is very fond of the Arabs. The owner of the top brands Maybach, Mercedes-Benz, Mercedes-AMG and Smart, has the Arab investment fund Aabar Investments (9.1%) as the main shareholder, the government of Kuwait owns 7.2% of the shares, and about 2% belongs to the emirate of Dubai. It is surprising to see our KAMAZ next to such brands, 10% of shares of which Daimler acquired in 2008. The German auto concern paid for the shares of KAMAZ $ 250 million immediately and left 50 million until 2012. As a result of the deal, Daimler received one seat on the board of directors of KAMAZ. In February of this year, the concern bought another 1% stake in a truck manufacturer.

The Bavarian concern BMW, which in 1959 virtually single-handedly saved Herbert Quandt from the sale, is still dependent on his family. In the late 50s, a competing company Daimler-Benz became interested in the unprofitable German brand, but Quandt did not sell it, and invested himself. Today his widow Joanna Quandt and children Stefan and Suzanne control a 46.6% stake in BMW and live quite well. Stefan Quandt even served as deputy chairman of the company's board for some time. Despite the fact that at various times Ford, General Motors, Volkswagen, Honda and Fiat offered very lucrative deals, Quandt's heirs refuse to sell, because they consider the preservation of the brand with the family a matter of honor.

In recent years, the Hyundai-Kia alliance has been rapidly breaking out into the ranks of the leaders of the global automotive industry. The alliance currently produces cars under the Hyundai and Kia brands, but the Koreans are planning to create a premium brand in the near future. According to unconfirmed information, it will be called Genesis.

Hyundai Motor was "lifted from its knees" by a single person - Chung Mong Ku, the eldest son of the founder of the Hyundai industrial group. In the late 90s, he took seriously the quality of cars. For some 6 years, the Korean man was able to increase sales in the US market by 360% and take the fourth place among imported brands.

Ford Motor is run by William Ford Jr., great-grandson of the famous Henry Ford. Henry Ford himself always dreamed of being the sole owner of the company. In 1919, Henry and his son Edsel bought out the shares of the company from other shareholders and became the sole owners of their brainchild. There is no doubt that the shares were sold to them without problems, because the first shareholders were: a coal dealer, his accountant, a banker who trusted the coal dealer, two brothers who had a workshop for the manufacture of engines, a carpenter, two lawyers, one clerk , owner of a dry goods store and a man who made wind turbines and air rifles.

Until recently, Ford boasted two more British brands - Jaguar (in 1989, Ford bought Jaguar for $ 2.5 billion) and Land Rover (in 2000, it was bought by Ford for $ 2.75 billion). dollars from BMW). In 2008, both brands were put up for sale due to huge debts. In June 2008 they were bought by Indian Tata Motors.

Today, in addition to cars with its own name, Ford Motor owns the Lincoln and Mercury brands. Ford also owns 33.4% of Mazda and 9.4% of Kia Motors Corporation.

General Motors, which has long held a leading position in the automotive market, is currently controlled by the state (61% of the shares). Its main shareholders are: the government of Canada (12%), the United Auto Workers Union of the USA (17.5%). The remaining 10.5% of the shares were divided among the largest creditors.

The famous auto concern still owns the brands Chevrolet, Pontiac, Buick, Cadillac and Opel. More recently, he also owned a controlling stake in the Swedish company Saab (50%), but after the crisis, in January 2010, he sold the company to the Dutch sports car manufacturer Spyker Cars.

In the summer of 2008, General Motors decided to sell the Hummer brand, and for almost a year tried to sell it to the Chinese, the Russians, or the Indians. As a result, the only promising deal with the Chinese Sichuan Tengzhong Heavy Industrial Machinery Co fell through, and on May 26, 2010, the last SUV of the brand rolled off the assembly line of the General Motors plant in the American city of Shreveport.

Since January 1, 2011, Fiat Group has split into two subsidiaries in two sectors: Fiat SpA (light vehicles) and Fiat Industrial (industrial vehicles).
Among the mergers and acquisitions of recent years, I would like to note the transfer of the Volvo brand under the control of the Chinese Geely and the purchase of the British premium brands Jaguar and Land Rover by the Indian Tata Motor. The most curious in this row is the acquisition of the Swedish brand SAAB by the tiny Dutch supercar manufacturer Spyker.

From the once powerful British car industry, there are now only memories. The most famous British automakers lost their independence long ago, but even small English firms passed to foreign owners. The legendary company Lotus belongs to the Malaysian Proton, and MG was bought by the Chinese company SAIC. At the same time, SAIC sold Korean SsangYong Motor to Indian automaker Mahindra & Mahindra. based on materials hhttp: //www.km.ru

In this article, we have systematized the information so that you can easily find out what isVAG (VAG) and what is included in its structure, as well as what brands of cars are included in the concern VAG. We drew brief conclusions on education and functioning VAG on December 1, 2019.

In the automotive world, it is customary to use various abbreviations that not everyone can decipher the first time. After all, most of these abbreviations apply to automotive companies and concerns.

VAG has remained one of the most common and well-known abbreviations for several years. The opinions of the inhabitants on the issue of its decryption were divided. Many believe that this is simply a shortened version of VOLKSWAGEN, another part claims that all German cars, including Mercedes and BMW, belong to the VAG.

Let's try to figure out how things really are.

How does VAG stand for?

Previously, the abbreviation VAG stands for Volkswagen Audi Gruppe but currently it is Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft (Volkswagen AG)... The second word in the title means "joint stock company".

At the moment there is one official German company name - Volkswagen Konzern, which translates as "Volkswagen Concern", and in English-speaking sources it is the Volkswagen Group (Volkswagen group of companies). The group's headquarters are located in Wolfsburg, Germany.

What car brands are included in the VAG concern?

Today, the VAG concern includes 12 separate car brands: Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Porsche, Seat, Skoda, Volkswagen, MAN, Scania, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles and Ducati.

At the end of summer 2009. Porsche SE and Volkswagen Group reached an agreement whereby Volkswagen and Porsche AG decided to merge by 2011.

By this time, about 50% of VAG shares belonged to the PORSCHE holding. In turn, VAG owns 100% of the shares of the intermediate holding Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, which has the right to manufacture PORSCHE AG vehicles.

The Volkswagen group includes car brands of the following brands:

• Audi is the last car brand of the Auto Union group acquired from Daimler-Benz in 1964.
• NSU Motorenwerke- was purchased in 1969 and entered the Audi Division. Not used as an independent brand since 1977.
• Seat- a controlling stake in the company (53%) was acquired from the state in 1986. Since 1990 the brand is practically the property of the Volkswagen Group, which owns 99.99% of the company's shares.
• Škoda- purchased in 1991
• Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) - was part of Volkswagen AG, but in 1995, thanks to Bernd Weidemann, the previous chairman of the group, became an independent division within the Volkswagen Group. The division is engaged in the production of minibuses, buses and tractors.
• Bentley- (1998) bought from the British concern Vickers together with Rolls-Royce, but cannot independently produce cars under this brand, since the brand itself was sold to BMW.
• Bugatti- (1998)
• Lamborghini - (1998)
• Porsche

The concern includes 342 companies engaged in the production of cars, motorcycles, special equipment, engines, etc.

The Volkswagen Group owns 48 car manufacturers in 15 European countries and six countries in America, Asia and Africa. More than 370 thousand people work at the enterprises of the group, more than 26 600 cars are produced daily, and authorized sales and service of cars are carried out in more than 150 countries of the world.

Thus, the concernVAG was created with the aim of acquiring smaller car brands by the big car giants. In our opinion, this was done for the following reasons:

1. Create imaginary competition among car manufacturers;
2. Dictate your pricing terms in the European automotive market.

To a person who is not particularly interested in cars, it may seem that there are a large number of independent car manufacturers in the world. In fact, among the car brands can be distinguished giant concerns and alliances, which include several car manufacturers. So let's see who belongs to whom among the car brands.

ConcernVolkswagen

The parent company of the concern is VolkswagenAG... Volkswagen AG fully owns the intermediate holding Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, which owns the prestigious car manufacturer PorscheA.G. Well, 50.73% of the shares of Volkswagen AG itself belong to the Porsche S.E. holding, which is owned by the Porsche and Piëch families - the descendants of the company founder Ferdinand Porsche and his sister Louise Piëch. The Volkswagen concern also includes companies Audi(purchased from Daimler-Benz) SEAT, Skoda, Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini... Plus truck and bus manufacturers MAN(Volkswagen owns 55.9% of the shares) and Scania (70,94%).

CompanyToyota

The president of the Japanese company Toyota Motor Corp. is Akio Toyoda, grandson of the company's founder. 6.29% of the company's shares are owned by The Master Trust Bank of Japan, 6.29% by Japan Trustee Services Bank, 5.81% by Toyota Industries Corporation, plus 9% are treasury shares. Among Japanese manufacturers, Toyota owns the largest number of brands: Lexus(the company was created by Toyota itself as a manufacturer of luxury cars), Subaru, Daihatsu , Scion(cars with youthful design for sale in the USA) and Hino(manufactures trucks and buses).

CompanyHonda

Another Japanese automaker Honda owns only one brand, and that was created by Honda itself for the production of luxury cars - Acura.

ConcernPeugeot -Citroen

Image with PSA Peugeot

The concern is the second largest car manufacturer in Europe after Volkswagen. The largest shareholders of the concern are the Peugeot family - 14% of the shares, the Chinese car manufacturer DongFeng - 14% and the French government - 14%. As for the relationship of companies within the concern, Peugeot SA owns 89.95% of Citroen shares.

AllianceRenault-Nissan

The Renault-Nissan Alliance was founded in 1999 and is a strategic partnership between companies in the field of mechanical engineering development. As for the owners of the companies, 15.01% of Renault shares are owned by the French government and 15% - by Nissan. Renault's share in Nissan, in turn, is 43.4%. Renault controls partially or completely the following brands: Dacia (99,43%), SamsungMotors (80,1%), AvtoVAZ(more than 50% of shares).

Nissan controls only its division. Infiniti, engaged in the production of prestigious cars, and the brand Datsun which currently produces budget cars for sale in India, Indonesia, South Africa and Russia.

ConcernGeneralMotors

The American concern General Motors currently owns the following brands: Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, Daewoo, GMC, Holden, Opel and Vauxhall... In addition, GM's subsidiary GM Auslandsprojekte GMBH owns a 41.6% stake in GM-AvtoVAZ's joint venture GM-AvtoVAZ, which produces Chevrolet Niva vehicles.

The concern is currently controlled by the state (61% of shares). The remaining shareholders of the concern are the United Auto Workers' Union of the USA (17.5%), the Government of Canada (12%). The remaining 9.5% of the shares are owned by various large creditors.

CompanyFord

Ford is currently controlled by the Ford family and holds 40% of the shares. William Ford Jr., great-grandson of the legendary Henry Ford, serves as chairman of the company's board of directors. Before the 2008 crisis, Ford owned brands such as Jaguar, Lincoln, Land Rover, Volvo and Aston Martin, as well as 33% of the Japanese Mazda. Due to the crisis, all brands, with the exception of Lincoln, were sold, and the stake in Mazda was reduced to 13% (and in 2010 - generally to 3%). Jaguar and Land Rover were bought by the Indian company Tata Motors, Volvo by the Chinese Geely, Aston Martin was sold to a consortium of investors, in fact, becoming an independent brand. As a result, at the moment, Ford only owns the brand. Lincoln, which produces luxury cars.

ConcernFiat

The Italian concern has collected such brands as AlfaRomeo, Ferrari, Maserati and Lancia... Plus, in early 2014, Fiat completely bought the American automaker Chrysler together with stamps Jeep, Dodge and Ram... The largest owners of the concern today are the Agnelli family (30.5% of shares) and Capital Research & Management (5.2%).

ConcernBmw

At the end of the 50s of the last century, the Bavarian concern BMW was at great losses. At this time, one of the BMW shareholders, industrialist Herbert Quandt, bought a large stake in the company and actually saved it from bankruptcy and sale to its eternal rival, Daimler. The Kvant family still owns 46.6% of the concern's shares today. The remaining 53.3% of the company's shares are traded on the market. The concern owns brands such as Rolls-Royce and MINI.

ConcernDaimler

The main shareholders of the concern are the Arab investment fund Aabar Investments (9.1%), the government of Kuwait (7.2%) and the Emirate of Dubai (about 2%). Daimler produces branded cars Mercedes-Benz, Maybach and Smart... The concern also owns 15% of the shares of the Russian truck manufacturer - the company " Kamaz».

ConcernHyundai

The largest car manufacturer in South Korea, in addition to its own brand, also owns 38.67% of the brand's shares. KIA(the company is part of the Hyundai Motor Group).

Independent car manufacturers

Among the popular brands that do not have any alliances, and do not own other brands, there are three Japanese automakers - Mazda, Mitsubishi and Suzuki.

However, today's realities show that in the future it will be more and more difficult for independent automakers to survive. To sell your vehicles around the world, you need to have a solid “foundation” that is provided either by partners or by a batch of several brands. Thirty years ago, legendary manager Lee Iacocca, who was once president of Ford and chairman of the board of Chrysler, suggested that by the beginning of the 21st century, only a small number of automakers would remain in the world.

Today we will talk about Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft, which literally translates from German as Volkswagen joint stock company. Yes, this is how VAG stands for, although in our country everyone is used to thinking that VAG is the Volkswagen Audi Group, but this is more of a popular name.

VAG is also sometimes called Volkswagen Konzern, Volkswagen Group, VW Group.

Let's see what Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft is. This joint-stock company includes 342 companies that are engaged in the production of cars and everything connected with it. There is a small legal confusion within the company that does not provide a clear picture of the owner of the concern. Volkswagen is partially owned by Porsche automobil Holding SE, to be precise 50.73%. In turn, Volkswagen AG owns 49.9% of the Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH holding. That is, today it is such an automobile giant consisting of Volkswagen and Porsche. The company is even negotiating a merger into a single Volkswagen Porsche structure.

And yet, how did it happen that one company owns so many car brands? The thing is that at the end of the last century, Volkswagen was experiencing serious financial difficulties. In 1993, Ferdinand Piech was appointed chairman of the board of the concern, who helped the company to get out of the deepest crisis.

He managed to optimize the work of the enterprise well and get out of the crisis while buying up weak car brands at that moment.

Which brands are included in Volkswagen aktiengesellschaft?

1. - produces cars

2. - the company was bought from daimler-benz in 1964.

3. - the company was acquired in 1991.

4. is an Italian brand of passenger cars that was purchased from the state in 1986.

5. Bentley - cars of the premium segment, the brand was purchased in 1998.

6.Lamborghini is a supercar car company owned by Audi who bought it in 1998.

7.Porsche - we have already said about the confusion with shares, but still it is believed that Porsches are part of Volkswagen.

8.Ducati Motor is a brand little-known in the CIS, but very popular abroad, is engaged in the production of premium motorcycles, also acquired by Audi in 2012.

Scania AB - 70% of the shares were acquired in 2009, the company produces truck tractors and trucks, which, by the way, are in great demand in the Russian Federation

Man, acquired 56% in 2011, is also involved in the production of semitrailer tractors, lorries, dump trucks and buses.

There is another company called Volkswagen comercial Vehicles that manufactures commercial vehicles. These are cars like the Volkswagen Crafter.

Some facts about VAG

2005 the concern produced 5.22 million cars

In 2006, the concern sold 5.72 million vehicles, net profit for this period amounted to 2.75 billion euros (Hello AvtoVAZ)

Volkswagen Konzern (Rus. Concern "Volkswagen", in English-speaking sources - Volkswagen Group, sometimes VW Group - German automobile concern (group of companies). The parent (parent) company of the concern is Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, often known as Volkswagen AG (formerly VAG - the abbreviation stands for as Volkswagen Audi Gruppe. Headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany. The company is named after the brand Volkswagen (German Volkswagen) - “people's car.” As of September 2011, 50.73% of the voting shares of Volkswagen AG belong to the holding Porsche SE Volkswagen AG owns 100% of the common shares of the intermediate holding Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH, and Porsche Zwischenholding GmbH owns 100% of the prestigious car manufacturer Porsche AG. Negotiations are under way to merge into a single VW-Porsche. Martin Winterkorn is currently underway is simultaneously the Chairman of the Management Board of Porsche SE and Volkswagen AG. Vol kswagen is made up of 342 car manufacturing and related services companies. According to the results of 9 months of 2009, it was the world's largest car manufacturer. Ranked 14th in the Fortune Global 500 (2009). From July 1998 to December 2002, a division of the Volkswagen Bentley group produced cars under the Rolls-Royce brand under an agreement with BMW, which acquired the rights to the brand from Vickers. Since 2003, only BMW has been able to produce cars under the Rolls-Royce brand. In December 2009, the Volkswagen Group entered into an alliance with Japanese Suzuki, exchanging with the latter stakes (the Germans received a 20% stake in Suzuki) and announcing the joint development of environmentally friendly vehicles. Less than two years later, in September 2011, the collapse of this alliance was announced. Subdivisions of the Volkswagen group are: Volkswagen (passenger cars) - currently the part of the concern engaged in the production of passenger cars is not registered as a subsidiary joint-stock company, but is directly subordinate to the management of Volkswagen AG. Audi is the last car brand of the Auto Union group acquired from Daimler-Benz in 1964. NSU Motorenwerke - Acquired in 1969 and merged into the Audi Division. Not used as an independent brand since 1977. Seat - a controlling stake in the company (53%) was acquired from the state in 1986. Since 1990, the brand has practically been the property of the Volkswagen Group, which owns 99.99% of the company's shares. Škoda - the company was acquired in 1991. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge) - was part of Volkswagen AG, but in 1995, thanks to the efforts of Birnd Weideman, the previous chairman of the group, became an independent division within the Volkswagen Group. The division is engaged in the production of commercial vehicles: vans, buses and tractors. The Bentley company was acquired in 1998 from the British concern Vickers together with Rolls-Royce, but cannot independently produce cars under this brand, since the brand itself was sold to BMW. Bugatti - the brand was acquired in 1998. Lamborghini - The company was acquired by a subsidiary of Audi in 1998. Scania AB - the majority stake in the company (70.94%) was acquired in 2009. Manufactures truck tractors, trucks and dump trucks, buses and diesel engines. MAN AG - a controlling stake in the company (55.9%) was acquired in 2011. Manufacturer of semitrailer tractors, trucks and dump trucks, buses, diesel and hybrid engines. Porsche - 49.9% of Porsche AG acquired in 2009. By 2011, a merger with parent Porsche SE was planned to create a single integrated automobile company, but this did not happen. The merger of Porsche and Volkswagen has been postponed indefinitely. Finally, in 2012, Volkswagen completed the acquisition of Porsche, making it the 12th brand in the German group. The deal was closed after Volkswagen acquired 50.1 percent of Porsche's shares, which cost the concern 4.49 billion euros and one of its ordinary shares. Volkswagen Group is one of the largest shareholders of the Japanese company Suzuki Motor Corporation. Ducati Motor Holding S.p.A. - one of the leading manufacturers of premium motorcycles, acquired by the Volkswagen Group division - Audi AG - on April 18, 2012 from Investindustrial SpA for $ 1.1 billion. Also, as of 2013, Volkswagen is the owner of the Russian Moskvich trademark. Volkswagen retains the right to use the brand and all emblems until 2021. In March 1991, in order to optimize the organizational structure, Volkswagen forms an internal division called Volkswagen Finanz, which in January 1994 becomes independent within the concern as a closed joint stock company Volkswagen Financial Services. 100% of the share capital belongs to the Volkswagen Group. As a banking and financial structure, Volkswagen Financial Services gains access to international financial markets and the opportunity to finance projects on favorable terms. Currently, the financial division of the Group, Volkswagen Financial Services, is the largest financial operator in the European automotive market, headquartered in Braunschweig. The assets of Volkswagen Financial Services as of December 31, 2009 amounted to more than 60.2 billion euros. Volkswagen Financial Services employs more than 5,000 people worldwide, including 3,600 in Germany itself. The division is engaged in: financing of production and purchase of cars for private and corporate clients (Volkswagen Bank); providing banking services to private and corporate clients (Volkswagen Bank direct / Audi Bank direct); provision of insurance services to private and corporate clients (Volkswagen Bank GmbH / Volkswagen-Versicherungsdienst: Volkswagen Bank, Audi Bank, Seat Bank, Škoda Bank); provision of leasing services to private and corporate clients (Volkswagen Leasing); fleet management (Volkswagen Leasing / LeasePlan Corporation); In 2010, the Volkswagen Group's revenue amounted to € 57.243 billion, net profit - € 1.55 billion. In 2009, despite the global crisis and a general decline in car sales, the company managed to increase its car sales worldwide by 0.6%. This is a record of sales, which reached 6.23 million vehicles. In 2006, the concern sold 5.72 million vehicles worth € 104.9 billion (net profit for this period was € 2.75 billion). More than 370 thousand people work at the enterprises of the Group. In 2005, the concern produced 5219.5 thousand and sold 5192.6 thousand cars. 7.5% of sales were in Germany, 44.7% in Europe, 15% in North America, 6.6% in Asia Pacific, 4.4% in South America and 1.8% in Africa. Revenues in 2005 amounted to € 95.3 billion, an increase of 7% compared to 2004, net profit - € 1.12 billion (€ 697 million in 2004). Manufacturing The Volkswagen Group owns 48 car manufacturers in 15 European countries and six countries in America, Asia and Africa. More than 370 thousand people work at the enterprises of the group, more than 26`600 cars are produced daily, authorized sales and service of cars are carried out in more than 150 countries of the world. In May 2009, plans for a corporate merger between Porsche AG and Volkswagen were announced. At this stage, negotiations are suspended due to lack of clarity on the financial situation of Porsche. Volkswagen Group in Russia On May 29, 2006 Volkswagen Group signed an investment agreement with the administration of the Kaluga region and the Ministry of Economic Development of Russia on the construction of an automobile plant near the city of Kaluga, in the Grabtsevo technopark. At the end of July 2007, the EBRD, one of the project's lenders, estimated the total cost of the project, including the costs of organizing the production of components, at € 1.042 billion. Initially, the plant, opened on November 28, 2007, produced Škoda Octavia cars in the amount of no more than 20 thousand cars a year using SKD technology (Semi Knocked Down - assembly of cars from large blocks or "large-scale assembly"). In October 2009, the plant launched a complete line for the assembly of CKD cars (Completely Knocked Down - complete assembly of a car from finished parts, including body welding). At first, the Škoda Octavia and Volkswagen Tiguan cars were produced using the CKD method, in 2010 the Škoda Fabia and the Volkswagen Polo sedan specially designed for the Russian market were launched. It is expected that after the opening of a new production facility, the plant will be able to produce up to 150,000 vehicles per year (including Audi A4, A5, Q5, A6 and Q7 - all by SKD). The number of employees at the plant in 2010 will be increased to 3 thousand people. On January 12, 2009, a reorganization took place in the form of the merger of two Russian subsidiaries. Volkswagen Group Rus LLC was joined by Volkswagen Rus LLC. The first one was registered in Moscow in 1999 (until 2003 it was named Volkswagen Group Automobiles LLC) and was an import structure that managed sales and after-sales service of cars. The second was created in 2006 in Kaluga to manage a new plant where Volkswagen and Škoda cars are assembled. According to the company, the merger will simplify coordination between Kaluga and Moscow, as well as unite personnel and finance. Dietmar Kortsekva (since 2010 - Markus Ozegovich) became the CEO of the new structure. In October 2009, SKD assembly of the following models was carried out at the Kaluga plant: Skoda Octavia, Octavia Combi, Octavia Tour, Octavia RS, Octavia Scout, Škoda Superb, Škoda Roomster, Škoda Fabia, Škoda Fabia Combi, Škoda Yeti, Volkswagen Passat, Volkswagen Passat CC, Volkswagen Tiguan, Volkswagen Golf, Volkswagen Touareg, Volkswagen Jetta, Volkswagen T5, Volkswagen T5 lang, Volkswagen Caddy and Volkswagen Caddy maxy. Since 2012, Volkswagen began producing cars at the GAZ plant in Nizhny Novgorod. A cooperation agreement with the Russian GAZ Group was signed on June 14, 2011. Nizhny Novgorod plans to produce the brands Volkswagen Jetta, Skoda Octavia and Škoda Yeti. At the beginning of 2013, the production of a full cycle Skoda Yeti was mastered in Nizhny Novgorod. Other models are on the way in the near future. At the end of October 2009, Volkswagen Group Rus LLC announced work on a budget B-class sedan project based on the Polo hatchback specifically for the Russian market. At the beginning of June 2010, it became known about the practical readiness of the car, called the Volkswagen Polo sedan. The car was put into production at the plant in Kaluga in the summer of 2010.