It’s the end of an era in the automotive corporate world. Audi has offloaded its majority stake in Italdesign to a tech company you’ve likely never heard of. California-based UST is taking control of the iconic design house, which had been part of the Volkswagen Group for well over a decade.
In August 2010, Audi acquired 90.1 percent of Italdesign’s shares and, in June 2015, the remaining 9.9 percent, making Italdesign a wholly owned subsidiary. Audi says it will continue to “retain a significant stake” in Italdesign through Lamborghini, which is part of the Audi Group alongside Bentley, Audi Sport, and Ducati.
Founded in 1968 by the legendary and prolific Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Italian design house worked on a vast array of Volkswagen Group products. In addition to Audi’s own 80 and the mechanically related but lesser-known Asso di Picche concept, Italdesign penned the original Golf, Scirocco, and Passat. But Italdesign’s heritage extends far beyond VW and its many brands.
It shaped everything from the humble Hyundai Pony to the BMW M1. Numerous Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati models were created in Moncalieri, along with a couple of projects for Renault. The portfolio also includes obscure vehicles such as the Hyundai Stellar, Daewoo Lacetti, and the more recent Hongqi HS5. Oh, there were also a handful of Lamborghini tractors.
So who is the new owner? According to its website, UST claims to have created over $1 billion in value for more than 140 clients. Its expertise ranges across artificial intelligence, data analytics, cybersecurity, and intelligent automation. Beneath the buzzwords, the tech firm, founded in 1999, says it employs more than 30,000 people across over 30 countries.
UST plans to “assume operational responsibility while honoring and building on Italdesign’s Italian heritage, design culture, and the talent of its employees.” Details are limited, but the two companies say they will complement each other:
'The majority takeover of Italdesign by UST creates a strong partnership that combines UST’s expertise in automotive engineering, artificial intelligence, software-defined vehicle development, and digital ecosystem design with Italdesign’s deep knowledge in vehicle and product design, engineering, prototyping, small series production, and automotive electronics.
Together, the companies will be able to offer a comprehensive and integrated range of services – from early concept and design to hardware and software development through to production systems. This combined capability is designed to support the development of fully modern, digitally enabled vehicles.'
Volkswagen electric coupe styled by Italdesign
You've probably forgotten about it already, but Italdesign’s final project under Audi ownership was a small electric 2+2 coupe. Built on the MEB+ platform destined for the upcoming ID.2 Polo, the EVX concept was a one-off, with no real intention of entering production.
In fact, the EVX wasn’t even a physical concept. Beyond a series of renderings, Italdesign presented it only as a hologram at the IAA Mobility show in Munich earlier this year. It’s sad to see Italdesign fade into obscurity, but hopefully it will rise again. As for Giorgetto Giugiaro, the 87-year-old designer is still going strong, having founded the GFG Style studio in 2015 with his son Fabrizio Giugiaro.
Source: Audi
