Showdown - Nissan Juke-R vs Porsche 911 GT2 RS - car and driver
How and why the Middle East is buying in European car companies.
This January, a Boeing 747 carrying 11 Volkswagen Phaeton landed in Doha, capital of Qatar, in the Persian Gulf Cars and their drivers had been sent there for a day driver Volkswagen executives and members of its board of monitoring, including President Ferdinand Pi ch and Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn high-level delegation came to Qatar to attend the first auto exposure and auto Summit of the Middle east countries.
By international standards, the show of Qatar is a minor regional event Qatar is a small desert state with a population of approximately 1 million and a new car market just 40 000 units a year It does not manufacture vehicles but has a lot of oil and natural gas; because of this, Qatar has a lot of money.
It was the money more than 7 billion this one that brought the most senior people in the largest car company in Europe in Qatar Qatar Holding, LLC, owns 17 percent of Volkswagen Group massif.
Qatar has started to invest in Porsche when the car manufacturer from Stuttgart sports has encountered difficulties after his bold attempt to take over Volkswagen Porsche sold 10 percent of its shares with voting rights in Qatar Now the tables are turned Porsche and VW brings in the Volkswagen group, with Qatar as its main shareholder But Qatar is not the only state in the Middle east oil wealth to invest in the automotive sector.
In fact, the Persian Gulf has been putting money in automotive companies since the 1970s in the wake of the first oil crisis, nearly four decades ago, the parent company of Mercedes-Benz, Daimler-Benz , received funding of newly rich Kuwait since the money from the Middle east has become a factor increasingly important for European carmakers upscale But now in the midst of political and social unrest in the region some of these companies are starting to feel uncomfortable.
An important chapter in the history dates back to 1977, when Gianni Agnelli, president of the largest industrial group in Italy, sought external funding to support Fiat car business while struggling with oil prices rising, producers Middle East had money to spare Italy's strongest links in the region were with former colony Libya the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment company has paid 400 million euros for a 15 percent in the group Fiat and appointed two directors to the board of Fiat.
This became problematic when Fiat el-Qaddafi regime was identified as a sponsor of international terrorism in 1986, Fiat has persuaded a reluctant Libya to sell its shares to the likely discomfort CEO of Fiat, Sergio Marchionne, and the current Fiat management, Libya acquired later and continues to own a new stake in Fiat about the amount of two percent.
As the efforts of the Middle East countries to raise their status in the world by the organization of major sporting events and tourist attractions, buying in auto companies is strictly business These investments are turning to a post-oil future.
Ferrari, a Fiat company, has formed a close association with Abu Dhabi, one of the richest and most stable capitals in the Gulf in 2002, during a dip in the fortunes of Fiat, Ferrari sold 34 percent of its Mediobanca shares at the bank, which in turn sold five percent of Ferrari 114 million Mubadala, an investment company backed by the government in Abu Dhabi over the past three years, Fiat bought the shares Mubadala and Ferrari Mediobanca, but the connection Abu Dhabi is maintained by the joint participation of companies in the Formula 1 circuit Yas Marina and Ferrari World Khaldoon Khalifa Al Mubarak park, CEO of Mubadala, is a member of Ferrari's board .
In 2005, Mubadala acquired a share of 17 percent of the young Spyker sports car business, which has taken Saab Automobile from General Motors five years later, in February, the Abu Dhabi investment in Spyker-Saab was at 20 percent.
In 2009, Aabar Investments, an equity fund owned by the government of Abu Dhabi, has invested $ 2 7 billion from Daimler in the connected agreements, Aabar has also taken a 30 percent in Brawn GP, Formula -Champion world 1 team was renamed Mercedes Grand Prix and became an investor of four percent electric car maker Tesla Motors.
Kuwait has quickly rebounded from the instability caused by the invasion of Iraq in 1990 by 2007, financial institutions were building a luxury property portfolio Two of them, Investment Dar and Adeem Investment, paid 848 million Ford Motor Company for its stake in Aston Martin Investment Dar also owns 40 percent of Prodrive, the British engineering specialist led by David Richards, Chairman of Aston Martin Aston s built race cars and Championship world Rally Minis for BMW.
How (and why) in the Middle East is buying in European car companies Feature Car and Driver, middle, east, buy, europe.