Announcing that it controls 35.14 percent of the voting rights in Volkswagen, Porsche is now claiming Volkswagen as a subsidiary under German law. Following this declaration, Porsche also made an offer to buy Audi, which is owned by VW.

Although there is nothing to stop Porsche from buying the publicly traded stock (equaling only .86 percent of Audi), VW is not accepting Porsche's offer to buy its 99.14 percent control of Audi.

Porsche CEO Wendelin Wiedeking remarked that they see Audi as an integral part of the VW group and "have no interest in taking the company out of the group." He also expressed his hope for a quick solution to conflicts stemming from VW's claim that it is under-represented on Porsche's supervisory board.

Porsche also says that it plans on eventually raising its stake in VW to more than 50 percent. "Today's step is a further milestone on the way," said Wiedeking.

Source: Automotive News