Porsche: more financial strife
Porsche no doubt wants people to focus attention on its cars -
such as the new Panamera, driven by PH this week
- but the company's turbulent financial wranglings continue to make the headlines. Latest in the saga is the news that its recent application for a 1.75bn euro loan from the state-owned KFW bank has been rejected.
The German sports car maker - saddled with 9 billion euros of debt that it is struggling to refinance - announced yesterday (Tuesday) that it was not successful in its application for the KFW loan, and that it would not be lodging any more loan requests with the KFW.
Porsche had already tried and failed to secure the loan from commercial banks before its application for the KFW money.
Instead, Porsche has pledged to secure its desperately needed extra finance by alternative means. Although details were not discussed, this is presumably an allusion to Porsche's recent talks with the state of Qatar about a possible investment from the Emirate, or the possibility of VW purchasing a large stake in Porsche.
Both these ideas have proved controversial, reigniting the infighting among the major shareholders in Porsche as the feuding family members - particularly cousins Ferdinand Piech (VW chairman) and Wolfgang Porsche (chairman of Porsche) - argue over how best to prop up the beleaguered manufacturer.
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