Luxury carmaker Porsche AG has purchased the majority stake in German battery manufacturing company VARTA AG Group, fully-acquiring V4Drive.
The sports car manufacturer is the new majority shareholder of the company, while VARTA AG will retain a minority stake without any operational influence.
V4Drive is being rebranded as V4Smart as the company expect to open up new customer groups for high-performance lithium-ion cylindrical cells in the automotive sector.
Porsche’s 911 GTS models already contain cells from the V4Smart, with production of these cells currently takes place at the Ellwangen site.
Albrecht Reimold, Member of the Executive Board for Production and Logistics at Porsche AG, said:
“The booster cells enable us to bring motorsport technology to our production cars. As a key component of the T-Hybrid drive system, they ensure exceptional driving performance from our iconic 911 sports car. As we establish V4Smart – with a great deal of momentum and energy.”
Management of the joint venture will be led by Lutz Kramer as Chairman of the Management Board (formerly Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH), Andreas Tschürtz as Managing Director Production (formerly VARTA AG) and Monika Steuss as Managing Director Finance (formerly Porsche AG). By the end of 2025, the company plans to expand its workforce to around 375 across both production sites, taking on a large number of employees from the VARTA AG-Group.
Development of the production line at the Nördlingen site has also already been carried out, 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, said:
“Through the development of battery production systems, Porsche Werkzeugbau has further expanded its business areas. Thanks to the strategic partnership between V4Smart GmbH and Porsche Werkzeugbau GmbH, we are now able to offer our customers the entire process chain for cylindrical cells – from cell chemistry and cell design to the finished cell or complete production plant.”
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