Audi plan to buy a 41% stake in design specialist CSI Unternehmensgruppe, Audi’s second investment in car design specialists in four days.
“Engineers at CSI have been a reliable partner for more than ten years,” said Michael Dick, Audi’s development chieft, citing cooperation on the R8 sports car.
CSI, founded in 1995, specialise in developing interior and exterior modules for carmakers including Porsche and Daimler. The company employ 250 workers at eight German sites including Ingolstadt, where Audi is based, and Wolfsburg, the corporate headquarters of VW.
Audi, who have overtaken Daimler AG’s Mercedes-Benz in sales this year and aims to outrank luxury-market leader BMW by 2015, are targeting sales of 2 million vehicles a year by 2020, two people familiar with the matter have said.
The acquisition for an undisclosed sum is being examined by antitrust authorities, Audi said. Spokesman Julio Schuback declined to be more specific when contacted by phone. Audi said on Nov. 25 they have agreed to buy a 91 percent stake in design specialist PSW Automotive Engineering GmbH, a company with 550 employees who also coöperate with Daimler, VW and BMW. The carmaker didn’t disclose the cost of the acquisition.
