Porsche Automobil Holding SE, the controlling shareholder of Volkswagen AG, plans to use its cash to invest in car-connectivity technology, part of a push to expand its portfolio beyond the German automaker.
Porsche SE is looking to acquire technology that will allow cars to exchange data, Martin Winterkorn, chief executive officer of both VW and the holding company, said on Wednesday. The investment vehicle of the Porsche-Piech family will continue its careful approach after making only one investment in years of searching, he said.
“When acquiring new investments, we continue to exercise exceptional diligence,” Winterkorn said at Porsche SE’s annual shareholders meeting in Stuttgart. “Everything has to be right.”
Porsche SE has laid out a strategy to use its cash from Volkswagen dividend payments to expand in industries related to carmaking. This year, the company expects positive net liquidity of between 1.7 billion euros and 2.3 billion euros ($2.6 billion). So far, its only investment has been the 41 million-euro purchase of a 10 percent stake in traffic-information provider Inrix Inc. in 2014.
Winterkorn called for more investments in companies such as Inrix, as real-time traffic information is critical for self-driving cars.
“Porsche SE sees a considerable market and growth potential in this area,” Winterkorn said.