Former VW boss Ferdinand Piëch thought the Italian brand would do well in the Group.
Its place could have been under Porsche’s guidance.
We can easily imagine stories involving car company CEOs and Presidents quipping about merging or buying each other out in a meeting where they’re OTR. Occasionally, the discussions are serious where one automaker is interested in another. This is what happened between Volkswagen and FCA back in 2011.
Alfa Romeo Logo (2015-Current)
Former VW boss Ferdinand Piëch was reportedly a considerable fan of Alfa Romeo. Piëch’s admiration for the Italian automaker was such that he imagined it blossoming under VW ownership. He’d even gone so far as to imagine positioned under Porsche’s experienced and watchful eye.
Autocar reports that, although Ferdinand Piëch was no longer involved in VW’s daily operation in 2018, he still envisioned a world in which Alfa Romeo was part of the massive automotive conglomerate. Then VW’s active boss, Herbert Diess, actually brought up the possible purchase of Alfa in a meeting with incoming new FCA boss Mike Manley.
Diess is reported to have thought he “considered it his duty to follow through on Piëch’s request,” at the time. Obviously, no transaction ever took place.
