Germany's auto industry finds itself on the cusp of increased ownership by foreign investors, with stakes in Porsche AG and Adam Opel GmbH _ whose reputations for being German-designed and built are as ingrained as the autobahn and Oktoberfest _ in play.
The next few days and weeks could see Porsche, the heavily leveraged maker of world-class sports cars like the 911, settle a deal with the Middle East nation of Qatar that would see it take a stake of around ??7 billion in the Stuttgart-based car maker.
Porsche's supervisory board plans to meet July 23. It won't say what the focus will be, but analysts expect it's likely a decision will be taken on a new investor at the meeting.
Meanwhile, ...