Audi Has Recently Sold Italdesign To An American Firm You Might Not Be Familiar With | Carscoops

      The renowned Italian design studio is being purchased by UST, while Lamborghini retains a stake.

      Audi is divesting most of its Italdesign shares after 15 years of ownership.

      UST, a California-based company, known for its focus on AI and industry buzzwords, is making the acquisition.

      The terms of the sale remain undisclosed, but Lamborghini holds a significant share.

      Earlier this year, it was reported that Audi was seeking to sell Italdesign as part of a broader cost-reduction strategy due to disappointing financial performance. These reports were confirmed when Audi sold a majority stake of the esteemed design firm to UST.

      If the name doesn't sound familiar, that’s understandable, as the company's background seems to contain more buzzwords than substantial information. Nonetheless, UST is headquartered in California and claims to have over 30,000 employees in more than 30 countries.

      The firm states that it has spent over two decades partnering “side by side with the world’s leading companies and major OEMs in the automotive sector to create a significant impact through transformation.”

      That description is quite vague, as is this statement: “Powered by technology, driven by AI, inspired by people, and led by this purpose, UST collaborates with clients from design to operation.”

      Putting the marketing jargon aside, Audi is not completely stepping away. Lamborghini, which is under the same corporate umbrella, will maintain what is described as a “significant stake.”

      Neither entity revealed exact figures or the sale price, but the German automaker indicated it would continue as a strategic partner of Italdesign and an important client moving forward.

      As for what lies ahead, that remains uncertain. According to a joint press release, the acquisition “creates a strong partnership that merges UST’s expertise in automotive engineering, artificial intelligence, software-defined vehicle development, and digital ecosystem design with Italdesign’s extensive knowledge in vehicle and product design, engineering, prototyping, small series production, and automotive electronics.”

      It further suggested that the two companies will now be able to provide a “comprehensive and integrated range of services,” facilitating the journey from early concept to production, including assisting clients in developing “fully modern, digitally enabled vehicles.”

      The transaction is pending regulatory approvals, but Italdesign CEO Antonio Casu expressed an optimistic view of the partnership, indicating it “will bring benefits to all involved” and “will allow Italdesign to accelerate the expansion of its service offerings in new markets and achieve deeper penetration in various international markets.”

      Audi’s head of technical development, Geoffrey Bouquot, remarked, “For many years, Italdesign has been a valued partner in our development network, providing expertise from design to prototype and series development. We are confident our collaboration will continue to foster success and yield strong results under the new ownership structure.”