Currently reading: What's behind the car industry's rush to split EV and ICE businesses

VW Group is considering listing Porsche on the stock market, adding to an industry trend

News that the Volkswagen Group is pulling the levers to spin off the highly profitable Porsche company makes it the most high-profile example in recent months of a growing trend to divide up automotive groups.

Why manufacturers and their suppliers are doing this boils down to two reasons: unlocking value and better preparing themselves for the shift to electric away from internal combustion engines.

The decision to list 25% of Porsche on the stock market is a good illustration of the first reason. Porsche has consistently been the Volkswagen Group’s most profitable arm in recent years, and therefore a separate listing could value it at as much as €90 billion (£75bn) – not far off the €116bn (£97bn) value of the entire Volkswagen Group, as per its current share price.

The Volkswagen Group would then pocket up to €11bn (£9bn) – a nice buffer against future disruption.

Register for free to access this article
  • Instant access to all Autocar Business news
  • Regular email newsletters
See all benefits here