It’s the end of an era in the automotive corporate world. Audi has offloaded its majority stake in Italdesign to a tech company you’ve likely never heard of. California-based UST is taking control of the iconic design house, which had been part of the Volkswagen Group for well over a decade.
In August 2010, Audi acquired 90.1 percent of Italdesign’s shares and, in June 2015, the remaining 9.9 percent, making Italdesign a wholly owned subsidiary. Audi says it will continue to “retain a significant stake” in Italdesign through Lamborghini, which is part of the Audi Group alongside Bentley, Audi Sport, and Ducati.
Founded in 1968 by the legendary and prolific Giorgetto Giugiaro, the Italian design house worked on a vast array of Volkswagen Group products. In addition to Audi’s own 80 and the mechanically related but lesser-known Asso di Picche concept, Italdesign penned the original Golf, Scirocco, and Passat. But Italdesign’s heritage extends far beyond VW and its many brands.
It shaped everything from the humble Hyundai Pony to the BMW M1. Numerous Fiat, Alfa Romeo, and Maserati models were created in Moncalieri, along with a couple of projects for Renault. The portfolio also includes obscure vehicles such as the Hyundai Stellar, Daewoo Lacetti, and the more recent Hongqi HS5. Oh, there were also a handful of Lamborghini tractors.
You've probably forgotten about it already, but Italdesign’s final project under Audi ownership was a small electric 2+2 coupe. Built on the MEB+ platform destined for the upcoming ID.2 Polo, the EVX concept was a one-off, with no real intention of entering production.
In fact, the EVX wasn’t even a physical concept. Beyond a series of renderings, Italdesign presented it only as a hologram at the IAA Mobility show in Munich earlier this year. It’s sad to see Italdesign fade into obscurity, but hopefully it will rise again. As for Giorgetto Giugiaro, the 87-year-old designer is still going strong, having founded the GFG Style studio in 2015 with his son Fabrizio Giugiaro.
