Qatar has taken a 6.78 percent stake in Europe’s biggest carmaker Volkswagen as part of a plan to take over around 17 percent of the company, Volkswagen said yesterday. Qatar’s investment will total some ¤7bn ($10bn) and the country will become the third biggest shareholder in Volkswagen behind the Porsche and Piech families and the German state of Lower Saxony. The agreement is part of a broader deal hammered out this month to merge Volkswagen with luxury sportscar maker Porsche, which incurred heavy debts in a recent failed bid to take over its far bigger rival Volkswagen. Volkswagen shares were down 1.54 percent on the Frankfurt stock market at 1400 GMT. http://thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=Local_News&subsection=Qatar+News&month=August2009&file=Local_News2009082923625.xml

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