Volkswagen AG is set to announce that it will acquire a 90% stake in Italdesign Giugiaro S.p.A, some sources told Automotive News Europe. VW is expected to announce the takeover at the Moncalieri, Turin headquarters of Italdesign, which is known for having styled cars such as the first-generation VW Golf.

The remaining 10% stake will be retained by the Giugiaro family. VW has plans to obtain control of Italdesign so that it can hit sales of 10 million vehicles a year and be known as the world’s biggest automaker by 2018. For VW to attain that goal, more designers and engineers will have to be added to its 10-brand group, including Porsche. For 2010, the VW group will be adding 60 models, including upgrades. Presently, Italdesign is served by 975 employees and 800 computer aided design workstations. Italdesign was co-founded in 1968 by Giorgetto Giugiaro (chairman). He will continue working at the company, along with his son Fabrizio, who is the head of the design and model division. Italdesign’s financial results are not readily available. The latest information that was released included a 6.2% increase in 2008 revenues to 136 million euros ($166 million), an operating breakeven.

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