Like many of Volkswagen’s pivotal announcements, the German group’s management board had no control over the timing of a confirmation that it finally planned to list part of the company’s crown jewel, Porsche.
Instead, the drip-feed of rumours from VW’s many stakeholders — which include a secretive family shareholder, powerful unions, the German state of Lower Saxony and 12 independently managed auto brands — forced the carmaker to rush out a statement in compliance with stock market disclosure rules, just as Russia moved forces into Ukraine.
Neither a botched bulletin, however, nor the prospect of war could dampen the case for liberating Porsche, which delivers just 300,000 vehicles out of the 9mn sold by VW Group each year, yet accounts for a quarter of its profits. VW shares initially rose almost 10 per cent on the news as markets relished a €20bn initial public offering of the historic brand, which would easily eclipse 2021’s $12bn float of electric carmaker Rivian.