MOTOR SHOW: VW's Piech Mulls Adding Two More Brands To Co

Ferdinand Piech, Volkswagen AG's (VOW.XE) powerful supervisory board chairman and former chief executive, said Monday that Europe's largest auto maker by sales might add another two brands to its line-up after the takeover of Porsche Automobil Holding SE's (PAH3.XE) core sports-car operations is completed.

Speaking at the sidelines of an evening event ahead of the Frankfurt auto show, Piech said talks were ongoing already and that results could be expected in the course of the year. He declined to name any of the potential targets.

Volkswagen is currently working on final details of a complex merger, as part of which Porsche would join Volkswagen as its 10th brand.

In the past, Piech had voiced interest, for example, in Italian motor-bike maker Ducati Motor Holding SpA. Volkswagen also holds a 29.9% stake in German truck maker MAN AG (MAN.XE), which analysts believe might be increased to a majority stake at some point to push ahead with plans for a European truck alliance.

Volkswagen Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn recently indicated that Europe's largest auto maker by sales might be interested in a tie-up with Suzuki Motors Corp. (7269.TO).

Piech said he doesn't welcome the planned takeover of General Motors Co.'s European Opel and Vauxhall brands through Canadian car-parts maker Magna International Inc. (MGA).

"As a company, we don't like it when our supplier becomes our rival," Piech said, noting that Volkswagen accounts for 7% of Magna's revenue. He didn't elaborate.

Magna co-Chief Executive Sigfried Wolf told reporters earlier Monday that no customer has threatened to cancel orders so far and pledged to keep the components and car manufacturing operations strictly separated.

Company Web site: www.volkswagen.com

-By Katharina Becker and Christoph Rauwald, Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]; [e-mail]