VW buys stake in carbon-fiber specialist SGL
BERLIN
The Associated Press March 2, 2011, 5:48AM ET
Car maker Volkswagen AG has bought an 8.18 percent stake in carbon products specialist SGL Carbon SE -- a partner of German rival BMW AG.
SGL Group CEO Robert Koehler says he views the investment as recognizing his company's development of "new materials and technologies particularly in automotive lightweight construction."
SGL's other shareholders include BMW heiress Susanne Klatten, who holds 22.25 percent of the company via her investment company SKion.
SGL said on Tuesday that it had been informed of the move VW.
News Att 2:
BMW CEO did not know of VW buying stake in partner
GENEVA (Reuters)
Volkswagen’s acquisition of an 8.2 percent stake in carbon fiber specialist SGL Carbon (SGCG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) surprised the latter’s partner, BMW (BMWG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), signaling a potential source of conflict between the carmakers.
“VW did not tell us about it. We weren’t warned in advance,” BMW Chief Executive Norbert Reithofer told reporters on Tuesday during the Geneva auto show.
BMW and SGL planned to invest as much as 230 million euros ($317.9 million) in a joint venture to produce lightweight carbon fiber car bodies on an industrial scale as part of its vaunted efforts to roll out an ultra-green BMW electric car for megacities like Shanghai.
First announced in October 2009, the JV would produce several thousand tons of carbon fiber annually. Six months later, Mercedes formed a joint venture with carbon fiber industry leader Toray (3402.T: Quote, Profile, Research) of Japan in a move that underscored the growing strategic importance of high-tech, lightweight materials in the fight to reduce fuel consumption and carbon emissions.