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Investing.com -- Porsche, the sports car manufacturer, has procured a majority stake in Varta (ETR:VAR1)’s car battery subsidiary, V4Drive Battery, now holding 70% of the shares, as revealed by the Stuttgart-based carmaker. This acquisition comes at a time when Varta is facing financial difficulties.
On March 4, 2025, Porsche AG purchased V4Drive GmbH from the VARTA AG-Group, leaving VARTA AG with a minority stake and no operational influence. Porsche and VARTA AG will merge their expertise in the development and production of high-performance cylindrical cells.
V4Drive will be rebranded as V4Smart, a change meant to highlight the potential applications of these high-performance cells beyond the automotive sector. This shift is anticipated to attract new customer groups for ultra-high-performance lithium-ion cylindrical cells.
V4Smart’s cells have already found their way into series production at Porsche, serving as booster cells in the 911 GTS models. This has elevated the driving performance of the renowned sports car. The production of these cells currently takes place at the Ellwangen site, which has been brought to series-production readiness with significant input from Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH. Starting in April, the cylindrical cells will also be manufactured at a new facility at the Nördlingen site.
Albrecht Reimold, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics at Porsche AG, stated that the booster cells enable them to integrate motorsport technology into their production cars. He added that these cells, as a key component of the T-Hybrid drive system, enhance the driving performance of their iconic 911 sports car.
The management of this joint venture will be overseen by Lutz Kramer, Andreas Tschürtz, and Monika Steuss. The company aims to expand its workforce to about 375 across both production sites by the end of 2025, hiring a significant number of employees from the VARTA AG-Group.
The production line at the Nördlingen site has already been developed, led by Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH and supported by other plant engineering companies. Markus Kreutel, Chairman of the Executive Board of Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH and future member of the Advisory Board of V4Smart GmbH & Co. KG, said that the strategic partnership between V4Smart GmbH and Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH allows them to offer their customers the entire process chain for cylindrical cells.
In addition to this, Porsche AG plans to continue acquiring a stake in VARTA AG, aiding the Baden-Württemberg-based VARTA AG-Group on its restructuring path. This transaction is still in progress.
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