German luxury sports car maker Porsche, which is being taken over by Volkswagen, reported on Friday an 11.8-percent jump in nine-month sales and retained its status as a leading profit-machine in the global auto industry.

Porsche said operating profit came to 600 million euros (744 million dollars) in the period from August through April, the first three quarters in its fiscal year, while sales climbed to 5.22 billion euros.

Its profit margin remained above 10 percent, meaning it is still one of the most profitable auto manufacturers in the world.

Unit sales were stable meanwhile at 53,605 vehicles, a statement said.

The results concerned Porsche AG, which is 49.9-percent owned by Volkswagen and handles the construction of models such as the 911, Cayenne and new Panamera.

The holding group Porsche SE, which in turn owns 32.2 percent of the shares in Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, marked a pause meanwhile in its debt reduction programme.

On April 30, the holding company had debt of six billion euros, compared with 6.1 billion at the end of January.

When the holding company's 2008-2009 financial year ended on July 31, it was burdened with 11 billion euros in debt.

Porsche intends to raise at least 2.5 billion euros in fresh capital in the first half of 2011, the last stage before the car unit it is taken over by VW and becomes that group's 10th brand.

VW is expected to pay 3.9 billion euros for Porsche.

Porsche officially unveils its 300-horsepower V6 Panamera and Panamera 4 on April 23rd at Beijing Motor Show, just 600 miles away and one year after Porsche's historic Panamera S, 4S and Turbo debut in Shanghai in 2009.

The Panamera and Panamera 4 will be available in U.S. Porsche dealerships in June 2010 with MSRPs of $74,400 and $78,900, respectively (excluding destination).

These new entry level Gran Turismos both feature a 3.6-liter V6 with Direct Fuel Injection (DFI) developing 300 horsepower and 295 lb-ft of torque. This all-new Porsche engine is built on the same line as the normally aspirated and twin-turbocharged 4.8-liter V8 engines found in the Panamera S, 4S and Turbo.

The Panamera transmits its power to the road via the rear wheels, while the Panamera 4 comes standard with active all-wheel drive. U.S. models will include Porsche Doppelkupplungsgetriebe (PDK), Porsche's new and revolutionary seven-speed double-clutch gearbox, as standard equipment.

Other standard equipment includes an electric moonroof and power liftgate, the Porsche Communication Management (PCM) system with navigation, Bi-Xenon™ headlights, Bluetooth® telephone connectivity, and the universal audio interface to connect an external audio source such as an iPod or a USB stick with the PCM system.

Like every Porsche, the Panamera and Panamera 4 were developed according to the Porsche Intelligent Performance philosophy -- more performance on less fuel, increased efficiency and lower CO2 emissions. Equipped with the PDK gearbox and the Auto Start Stop function, Porsche expects these new models to be considerably more fuel efficient than their normally aspirated V8 siblings. Official U.S. EPA fuel economy figures will be announced closer to the new models' on-sale date, and like the V8 Panamera models, neither will be subject to a gas-guzzler tax. Both meet the strict EU5 emission standard in Europe and the LEV standard in the United States.

Porsche has always focused on superior efficiency and performance, and in the case of these new Panamera models these long-held tenets are not mutually exclusive. One example of this ideal combination of qualities is consistent lightweight construction with the axles, doors, hood, front fenders and tailgate all made of aluminum. Likewise, the brand new 90-degree angle V6 powerplant built at Porsche's engine plant in Zuffenhausen is approximately 66 lbs. lighter than the Porsche V8 in the Panamera S and 4S. This contributes to the low overall curb weight, which in the case of the Panamera with the PDK transmission is just 3,880 lbs. (1,730 kg).

Like the proven V8 models, both the Panamera and the Panamera 4, as genuine Gran Turismos, combine a sporting character with a high standard of comfort and everyday driving qualities. Steel suspension is standard, and variable dampers and adaptive air suspension with additional air volume on demand are optional. This provides a wide range of suspension qualities and features, with a high level of motoring comfort on the one hand and extremely sporting driving dynamics on the other.

Since its U.S. introduction in October 2009, the Panamera has received numerous awards and recognition. The Panamera Turbo was named Playboy Magazine's 2010 Car of the Year. Others include an Edmunds Inside Line Editors' Most Wanted Award, inclusion in Edmunds.com's Top Recommended Vehicles list, two Car and Driver Editors Choice Awards (Sports Sedans and Luxury Sedans), Bloomberg Car of the Year, the Most Inspired Design award in Ward's Auto Interior of the Year competition, About.com Cars Best New Cars of 2010, and NADAguides.com's Car of the Month for January.

This year marks the 60th anniversary of one of the most fateful and successful decisions in the annals of automotive history – Porsche’s decision to market cars in the United States. But the story of Porsche in America is really the story of the common vision of three men – Ferry Porsche, Max Hoffman and Johnny von Neumann.

From the beginning, Dr. Ferry Porsche saw the limitations of selling his 356 sports car in the Western European markets. He knew in order to sustain and grow his dream, Porsche would have to export its products to larger, more affluent markets like the United States, which had been virtually untouched by World War II.

This grand show opens in New York City

Enter Austrian ex-patriot and adoptive New Yorker Max Hoffman. Hoffman had already made a name for himself introducing exciting European cars to eager Americans. With the demand for cars running at a fever pitch after the sparse war years’ production, Hoffman scoured the continent for marketable products. He knew many returning G.I.s had developed a taste and a romantic fondness for the nimble, fun-to-drive cars they had been introduced to while stationed in Europe.

Hoffman, at the urging of Swiss journalist Max Troesch, accepted the Porsche franchise in the early autumn of 1950. Max caught the Porsche bug, declaring, “I was very excited. This was something completely new, out of this world. I was not 100 percent for Porsches. I was 1,000 percent for Porsches.” When Ferry Porsche said he hoped Max could find five American buyers a year, he responded, “If I can’t sell five a week, I’m not interested.”

In the fall of 1950, Hoffman took delivery of two 1.1-liter coupes and put them on display at his 430 Park Avenue showroom in New York City. While the 356 had only 44 horsepower and cost as much as a Cadillac convertible, he thought this little Porsche deserved a chance.

His faith in Porsche was justified. He imported 32 cars in 1951, and by 1954 he was marketing 11 Porsches a week, or 30 percent of Porsche’s production. At its peak, the United States would absorb up to 70 percent of Porsche’s yearly production.

Hoffman was also an astute marketer. In 1952 while dining in a New York restaurant, Max told Dr. Ferry Porsche all cars of some standing in the world have a crest. “Why not Porsche, too?” he asked. “If all you need is a badge, we can give you one, too!”

Ferry then grabbed a napkin and began to draw the crest for the state of Baden-Würtenberg with its curved stag horns. He added a black prancing horse from Stuttgart’s coat of arms and the word PORSCHE across the top and handed it back to Max asking, “How about something like that?” With a bit of refinement and color, the famed Porsche Crest was born and today remains true to Ferry’s original sketch more than half a century ago.

Porsche and the Hollywood connection

While New York would prove to be central to Porsche’s U.S. success, California, even in the early 1950s, was considered the ‘Car Mecca of the New World’. The Porsche foothold on the West Coast was established by another Austrian expat named Johnny von Neumann. Von Neumann was the scion of a well-known Viennese doctor and had emigrated to the United States in 1947 and had begun selling cars in the Los Angeles area.

In 1948, he opened up his own shop, Competition Motors in North Hollywood. The name was reflective of von Neumann’s primary interest, racing. While most of his business was focused on the repair and maintenance of sports cars, he eventually sold cars, as well.

On a 1951 vacation to New York, von Neumann decided to see his fellow Viennese Hoffman, whom he knew from before the war. “I stopped to say hello and being a ‘salesman’s salesman’, he asked me to take the car for a ride,” von Neumann recalled to a journalist. “I thought the car was way ahead of its time, so I bought one and drove it back to California.” It was the first Porsche ever West of the Mississippi.

After selling that first Porsche, von Neumann bought several more, firmly established Porsche’s West Coast beachhead, and continued to cater to the famous, the rich and the infamous. It was from von Neumann’s Competition Motors shop that James Dean purchased his first Porsche, a 356 Speedster with which he won his first serious amateur race. He then traded that Speedster for the Porsche 550 Spyder in which he famously lost his life while en-route to his first race in the car in Salinas, Calif.

California would become Porsche’s single largest market and, if broken out separately from all other U.S. sales territories, would rank as one of the largest markets for Porsche worldwide.

Porsche of America Corp. is born

By 1956, it became increasingly evident Max Hoffman’s focus on Porsche had shifted. In addition to Porsche, Hoffman was now importing a sizable portfolio of brands under the Hoffman Motor Cars umbrella. Because of this diversification, it was difficult for Porsche to maintain the support and distribution standards Porsche felt were critical for the growth of the Porsche brand in the United States. This was to be a recurring concern during the history of Porsche in America.

In response to this need, Porsche of America Corporation (PoAC) was established. With headquarters in Teaneck, N.J., PoAC took over and improved and expanded Porsche’s distribution network.

The Volkswagen years

For many years Dr. Ferry Porsche felt the only way to sustain the company in the long run and for it to remain an independent entity was for Porsche to develop a lower cost, higher volume model. While Porsche toyed with the idea of a less expensive 911 – the 912 was one such short-lived attempt – Dr. Ferry Porsche saw this could diminish the stature of the flagship 911.

In partnership with Volkswagen AG, Porsche developed the 914, a mid-engined, two-seat Targa-type sports car available in two configurations – the Porsche powered six-cylinder 914/6 and the less expensive and higher volume VW powered 914/4.

But the increased volume these two new cars were intended to generate could not be handled through the existing PoAC channel. And, as the volume 914/4 was to be powered by the flat four from the Volkswagen 411 and utilized many shared components, it made perfect sense to team up with Volkswagen of America (VoA). In addition, the Porsche family had long and close ties with Volkswagen, and in fact had used VoA’s distribution chain elsewhere for many years.

During the partnership, VoA and Porsche sold more than 250,000 Porsches in the United States.

The birth of PCNA

In January 1984, the 323 U.S. Porsche-Audi dealers were notified after August 31 they would no longer be receiving Porsche cars, parts or support from Volkswagen of America, but from a new entity, Porsche Cars North America (PCNA).

With the establishment of its plant in New Stanton, Pa., Porsche felt VoA, as a U.S. auto manufacturer, would be more focused on increasing volume of the VW model line-up. The new Porsche sales chief, M. J. Nedelcu stated, “the quality of the marketing organization could no longer develop in sufficient measure to suit our exclusive automobiles.”

With the termination of the distribution agreement, PCNA set up its operation in Reno, Nev. in September of 1984 to oversee all of the importation and distribution tasks formerly handled by Volkswagen of America. PCNA remained in Reno until March 10, 1998 when it relocated to its current home in Atlanta.

Today, PCNA is the exclusive importer of Porsche vehicles for the United States. It is a wholly owned, indirect subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG. PCNA employs approximately 180 people who provide Porsche vehicles, parts, service, marketing and training for its 200 dealers. The dealers, in turn, provide Porsche owners with best-in-class service.

PCNA, which imports the iconic 911 series, the highly acclaimed Boxster and Cayman mid-engine sports cars, high-end Cayenne sport utility vehicles and the four-passenger Panamera Gran Turismos, strives to maintain a standard of excellence, commitment and distinction synonymous with its brand.

Anti-corruption officers have searched the homes and offices of two former Porsche chiefs and not only the German automaker's headquarters, news magazine Der Spiegel reported.

The company had said Thursday prosecutors with search warrants raided the headquarters of the luxury carmaker and opened a probe against former chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking on insider trading charges.

Quoting a spokeswoman for the Stuttgart prosecutor Der Spiegel said in its issue to be published Monday that the private apartments of Wiedeking and former financial director Holger Haerter had also been searched.

It did not say when the searches were carried out.

Wiedeking resigned as Porsche's chief executive officer last month after failing in his bid to acquire Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker. Haerter stepped down at the same time.

Die Welt newspaper said the probe by Stuttgart prosecutors was linked to information provided by German banking regulator BaFin after Volkswagen shares soared last October, following reports of its expected acquisition by Porsche.

The project ultimately fell through.

During the Porsche/VW takeover saga, a series of so-called cash settlement options in VW shares earned Porsche billions as the stock climbed in value and were at one point quoted at more than 1,000 euros a share.

That briefly made VW the world's biggest company by market capitalisation.

VW was quoted at 151.47 euros at the market's close on Friday.

Der Spiegel said however that the latest investigation was not focussing on the share's October 2008 boom but on the fact that Porsche allegedly tried "with help from Frankfurt's Maple Bank to stabilise the VW share at a certain level to stop the share price from again fluctuating dangerously".

Such fluctuations could have led to massive losses for Porsche which at the time held more than half of VW's shares as well as options, Der Spiegel said.

Under Wiedeking, Porsche built up a 51-percent stake in the much larger VW and wanted to take full control but the attempt failed and left Porsche squeezed under a huge debt pile. The two firms now plan to merge by 2011 and to overtake Japan's Toyota to become the world's biggest car company by 2018.

Volkswagen has bolstered its bid to become the world's biggest automaker by 2018 after it won a bruising battle with its biggest shareholder, Porsche.

VW, the biggest European car maker, wants to overtake Toyota as number one, but a boardroom struggle with the sportscar icon, which was resolved Thursday, has distracted it from the goal.

"Apart from the loss of an extremely capable car manager, the end of the conflict is a relief for both VW and Porsche," the Financial Times Deutschland commented.

"The saga was absurd, and all the power and style questions precluded a focus on economic reason."

German media declared VW the clear victor in a bitter dispute with Porsche after both agreed to settle the matter and get on with a merger.

"Of course there are winners and losers here -- claiming anything else would be naïve," the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) said.

Investors agreed, and VW shares showed a rise of 1.45 percent to 258.70 euros in late trading on Friday after gaining 1.21 percent the day before.

Porsche shares had lost 1.99 percent to 50.72, after gaining a slight 0.27 percent on Thursday.

VW and Porsche say they will form an integrated auto manufacturer by mid 2011 within which Porsche can retain its independence but without hard-charging chief executive Wendelin Wiedeking, who has resigned.

The Gulf emirate of Qatar is to buy 17 percent of VW meanwhile, the group said, and possibly a stake in Porsche as well.

Wiedeking's bold attempt to take over the much bigger VW made an enemy of Ferdinand Piech, the fearsome president of VW's supervisory board and a key Porsche shareholder.

Piech emerged top dog from a nasty months-long scrap with Wiedeking and Piech's cousin Wolfgang Porsche, another major Porsche shareholder who had backed the VW takeover bid.

"Wiedeking and his main supporter, Wolfgang Porsche, have 'lost' the power struggle. VW Group and Ferdinand Piech are now clearly in the driver's seat," the private bank Sal Oppenheim said in a research note.

Nord LB auto analyst Frank Schwope was less convinced of a clear-cut victory however, telling AFP: "I am sure there are still many problems on the way for an integrated company."

Qatar has not been heard from yet, he noted, and the projected date for a finalised merger "is a long long way" off, Schwope said.

"A lot of things you don't expect now can happen in these two years," he noted, giving the plan a "maybe 75 percent" chance of success.

Porsche would become VW's 10th brand, with autonomy similar to that enjoyed by Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini, Seat, Scania, and Skoda, after raising at least five billion euros (seven billion dollars) through a capital increase.

Porsche must pay down 10 billion euros in debt run up while it tried to take over VW, and is to progressively sell its core auto unit to VW while the parent companies merge.

Wiedeking and Porsche finance director Holger Haerter "had to fall on their swords," IHS Global Insight analyst Tim Urquhart commented, though Wiedeking will receive 50 million euros in severance pay to stuff in the wound.

In a bid to deflect public anger about the size of this "golden parachute," half would be donated to charities including a foundation to support Porsche workers, Wiedeking said.

Urquhart also wondered how Porsche "will co-exist alongside companies that are actually major rivals, such as Audi and Lamborghini."

But media highlighted the victory of VW's supervisory board chief, with the business daily Handelsblatt running the headline: "Piech wins - Porsche cries," along with a picture of Wolfgang Porsche in tears as he spoke to workers after the decisions were announced.

The FAZ commented that "Wiedeking's problem was that in this contest, which started with both of them on the same side, Piech became his opponent."

"That has never been good for anyone," the paper concluded in a comment echoed elsewhere.

Volkswagen, the biggest European carmaker, said on Wednesday it would hold a special board meeting next week coinciding with one by its main shareholder, Porsche, in a context of restructuring talk.

The meetings will both be held in the southwestern city of Stuttgart.

"A meeting of the supervisory board has been called for July 23 in Stuttgart," a VW spokesman told AFP, while declining to comment further.

Porsche is based in Stuttgart, while VW's home is in northern Wolfsburg.

The Porsche board is due to discuss an offer by Qatar for a major stake in the car company and VW stock options held by Porsche but has downgraded a discussion on an offer from VW, a press report said on Wednesday.

Porsche's supervisory board has placed the question of a Qatari investment under the heading "decision," while the VW bid is listed under "information," the popular daily Bild reported.

The two meetings nontheless suggest Porsche and VW might unveil a resolution to a ongoing boardroom battle in which their dominant forces, the Porsche and Piech families, have striven to gain the upper hand.

Porsche currently owns 51 percent of VW and tried to increase that holding to 75 percent, but succeeded only in racking up debt of around nine billion euros (12.5 billion dollars).

The much larger VW has since made a counteroffer for 49 percent of Porsche, which is controlled by the two families.

Ferdinand Piech, a grandson of Porsche founder Ferdinand Porsche, is also head of VW's supervisory board.

Uncertainty over Porsche's future has fueled tension between a union official and the German state of Lower Saxony, where Wolfsburg is located.

Regional premier Christian Wulf "wants to harm Porsche so Volkswagen can buy us cheaply," union leader Uwe Hueck, who is close to the Porsche management, claimed in the German weekly Focus' online edition on Wednesday.

"He wants to put us in a tight spot and is playing with jobs to do so," Hueck added.

Lower Saxony owns 20 percent of the shares in VW and with that holds a blocking majority under a disputed law drafted specifically for the carmaker.

A statement issued by Lower Saxony's government spokesman Olaf Glaeseker shot back: "Uwe Hueck obviously is afraid of losing his privileges. Otherwise it is impossible to understand his argument and erroneous charges."

Glaeseker denied Hueck's accusation that Lower Saxony had tied to prevent Porsche from obtaining state credits, and said Wulf had helped the company get a 700-million-euro loan from VW.

Hueck, who heads the Porsche works council, has launched a petition demanding the Porsche and Piech families guarantee Porsche's independence and take in an outside investor.

That could block VW's bid, but a council statement said the two families must honour their promise that "Porsche is not for sale."

Porsche says its goal is to form a fully integrated group with VW.

Merger talks between Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen and luxury sportscar manufacturer Porsche were suspended Sunday, amid a rift between the two German auto giants.

There is currently "no clear constructive attitude" on the part of Porsche, a Volkswagen spokesman told AFP. "Therefore there is no point in having further talks at the moment," he added.

Dialogue between the two parties had been "suspended," he said.

For their part, Porsche played down the rift.

"The negotiations, which began last week, are continuing in a completely normal fashion," the firm said.

A meeting planned for Monday has however been cancelled, Porsche confirmed.

The two sides have been at loggerheads following comments on Thursday by Ferdinand Piech, head of VW's supervisory board. He said Porsche had to cut its debt mountain -- valued at roughly nine billion euros (12 billion dollars) -- before any merger.

The two auto giants agreed on May 6 to begin merger talks, giving themselves four weeks to agree a tie-up.

German luxury sports car maker Porsche said Wednesday it would push back a planned takeover of Volkswagen, the biggest European auto group, after being hit by falling sales.

"In view of the current economic climate it is more and more unlikely that we will achieve the goal this year" of raising its stake in VW from the current 42.6 percent to more than half, Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking said.

"Our aim remains to increase our stake to over 50 percent... as quickly as possible. But we have always said that we would not do anything unreasonable," he told a news conference in southwestern Stuttgart.

Wiedeking said his goal was to build "a global alliance" able to resist the financial and economic crisis, "because the world is not going to be simple."

"In the past weeks, dramatic changes have taken place in auto markets," he noted.

Porsche estimated that its unit sales had dropped by 18 percent to 25,200 vehicles in the August-November period compared with the same period a year earlier.

Revenues were also expected to have lost 15 percent in the same period to "slightly more than two billion euros" or 2.6 billion dollars, the car maker said.

Porsche now expects full year 2008/2009 sales to be "markedly" lower than the previous year's record of 98,650 vehicles.

Finance director Holger Haerter painted a bleak picture of the auto sector, saying knock-on effects of weak sales meant that "a fundamentally healthy parts supplier could become a candidate for bankruptcy from one day to the next."

Another factor delaying a VW takeover is the recent wild swings in its share price that stemmed from speculation in the run-up to Porsche's final move.

In late October the price of VW shares shot up to 1,005 euros, making the biggest European carmaker briefly the world's most valuable company by market capitalisation.

"We are not ready to buy VW shares at ridiculous prices," Haerter said.

At more than 200 euros there is not much sense "from an economic point of view" in buying Volkswagen stock, he added.

And, Haerter said: "The global economic crisis and its consequences for the automobile sector must not be forgotten" when mulling an increase of Porsche's stake.

The maker of the 911 sports car confirmed it was aiming for a VW holding of 75 percent next year, but its shares are considered overvalued at present by analysts.

Porsche shares gained from the announcements on Wednesday, adding 3.4 percent to 54.58 euros in afternoon over-the-counter Frankfurt trading.

VW was up by 3.76 percent at 264.87, while the DAX index of leading shares had lost 2.52 percent overall.

"Porsche has every interest in maintaining its freedom and waiting for it to fall," auto specialist Stefan Bratzel told AFP in reference to the VW share price.

"Several billions (of euros) are at stake if they buy at the wrong time."

BHF Bank analyst Albrecht Denninghoff added that "the status quo is completely favourable for Porsche."

It is in a strong position at VW despite union opposition to a takeover, and profits from its VW share dealings earned much more for Porsche in 2007/2008 than did sales of its sports cars.

German luxury sports car maker Porsche posted record annual results Friday on the back of its holding in Europe's biggest car maker Volkswagen but voiced concern about the future as growth slows sharply.

Porsche said its year to July 2008 net profit soared nearly 51 percent to 6.39 billion euros (7.21 billion dollars) as the company booked massive gains on its VW shares.

Porsche said the contribution from various financial transactions involving stock in VW, in which it has built up a 74 percent stake, rose to 6.83 billion euros from 3.59 billion euros the previous year.

The company earned another 1.007 billion euros from its direct stake, which brought the total VW contribution to more than 7.8 billion euros.

Porsche currently owns a direct stake in VW of 42 percent and controls about 32 percent more via stock options.

Porsche total car sales, in contrast, rose only 1.3 percent to 7.46 billion euros.

Pre-tax profit, again buoyed by VW gains, jumped 46.3 percent to 8.57 billion euros.

"Porsche's operative earnings before taxes developed most satisfactorily," it added.

But Porsche warned again that 2009 will be a tough year and that it will be forced to cut production as sales fall, especially in the key US market.

"Currently we do not assume that we will be able to repeat the high total sales of the previous business year," it said in a statement.

"It is very difficult to make reliable statements on the course of the current business year as a whole because of the current economic situation which is extremely tense," Porsche said.

The Stuttgart-based company said it had sold 98,652 of its highly sought after sports cars and sports utility vehicles in past year, up 1.2 percent.

Porsche plans to increase its direct stake in VW to more than 50 percent before the end of the year and as it has bought up stock, the price has seen incredible swings on the Frankfurt stock exchange, rising last week at one point to more than 1,000 euros.

That briefly made VW the biggest company in the world by market value.

On Friday, the shares traded at almost 400 euros, much higher than their intrinsic worth, according to analysts.

Volkswagen revealed in a statement that a director had earned more than a million euros a week ago through the sale of shares in the company.

Production director Jochem Heizmann sold 2,000 VW shares on October 31 at 537.93 euros apiece, a regulatory filing said.

The share price had leapt to 1,005 euros in explosive intraday trading on October 28 as investment funds dived in after previously betting against the stock.

On Friday, Porsche said it would propose a dividend payment of 0.694 euros for each of its own ordinary shares and 0.70 euros for each preferred share, along with a special dividend of 2.0 euros per share for both categories.

German sports car maker Porsche said it had raised its stake in Volkswagen to 35 percent Tuesday, effectively winning control of Europe's biggest automaker.

Porsche said in a statement it had boosted its stake in Volkswagen to 35.14 percent from 31 percent, giving it a "permanent majority at the VW general assembly."

The move makes VW an "effective" Porsche unit under German shareowner and takeover law.

"The goal remains to increase our stake in Volkswagen to more than 50 percent," Porsche chief Wendelin Wiedeking said.

"Today's step is a further milestone along the way."

Despite recent tensions between the management of the two German automaking legends, Porsche said it looked "forward to the continuation and deepening of the trusting cooperation with the Volkswagen board."

It added that it hoped for a quick resolution of the conflict between the works councils of Porsche and VW.

VW's works committee is wary of the takeover and of Porsche boss Wendelin Wiedeking for crossing swords with the trade unions, which are extremely powerful at VW.

Porsche has said since early March that it planned to take over the much bigger VW. It said Tuesday that it planned to increase its stake in VW again in the coming months, pending approval from regulators.

It is also seeking to counter efforts by the German government and the state of Lower Saxony, where VW is based, to retain a blocking minority held by the state, which owns around 20 percent of the shares in VW.