Porsche to investigate forced labour under Hitler

September 13th, 2009 JERUSALEM - A Dutch journalist and historian, Paul Schilperoord, has alleged in his new book Het Ware Verhaal van de Kever ("The True Story of the Beetle"), to be released later this month, that Ferdinand Porsche's iconic Beetle, officially commissioned by Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, may well have been taken from a design by a Jewish engineer identified as Josef Ganz. In 2004, Schilperoord picked up an old edition of a magazine called Automobile Quarterly.

August 19th, 2009 Baltimore race beating suspect has Hitler tattooBALTIMORE — Baltimore police say a suspect in the racially motivated beating of a 76-year-old black man has a tattoo of Adolf Hitler on his stomach and even uses "Hitler" as a nickname. Twenty-eight-year-old Calvin Lockner was ordered held without bail Wednesday morning.

August 13th, 2009 VW, Porsche meet, merger news eyedFRANKFURT — Officials from German car companies Volkswagen AG and Porsche AG were meeting in Wolfsburg Thursday afternoon amid intense interest about their announced merger. Observers are anxious to hear what plans the supervisory boards have and what sort of financial commitments are being made in their efforts to form closer ties.

July 23rd, 2009 Porsche board meets amid talk of takeoverSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche Automobil Holding SE's supervisory board agreed early Thursday morning to seek a capital increase of at least €5 billion ($7.1 billion), and threw its weight behind talks with a Qatar investment fund, a spokesman said. Porsche spokesman Albrecht Bamler said the decisions came after a special meeting that started late Wednesday — a day earlier than Porsche SE — which owns Porsche AG and a 51 percent stake in Volkswagen — had originally planned an extraordinary meeting to talk about the future of both of the companies.

July 23rd, 2009 Porsche says CEO stepping downSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche Automobil Holding SE's supervisory board says company CEO Wendelin Wiedeking is to step down immediately. The board issued a statement early Thursday morning after a meeting through the night.

July 23rd, 2009 BERLIN - The supervisory board of German carmaker Porsche early Thursday approved a 5 billion euro ($7.1 billion) capital increase that could clear the way for a takeover by Volkswagen. The announcement came after a several-hour closed-door meeting to reach an agreement on the future of the iconic sports car maker.

July 23rd, 2009 STUTTGART - The board of the giant German carmaker Volkswagen agreed Thursday to to forge a new global automotive powerhouse by mounting a two-step 8-billion-euro, ($11.4 billion) takeover of the legendary sports vehicle group Porsche. Announcing the agreement, Volkswagen (VW) chief Martin Winterkorn said the way was now free for the creation of an integrated VW-Porsche group with the sports carmaker to remain an independent brand.

July 23rd, 2009 STUTTGART - Wendelin Wiedeking, the chief executive of German carmaker Porsche AG, resigned Thursday after losing a power struggle with Volkswagen, which is set to take over Porsche. Porsche's supervisory board agreed on Wiedeking's departure after a night-long session, making him the first high-calibre victim of the drawn-out takeover battle between Porsche and Volkswagen AG.

July 10th, 2009 Porsche board to hold special meetingSTUTTGART, Germany — Porsche's supervisory board will hold an extraordinary meeting on July 23, a spokesman said Friday, as the company grapples with debt that it accumulated building up its share in Volkswagen AG. Spokesman Albrecht Bamler confirmed the date of the Porsche Automobil Holding SE meeting but would not say what it would discuss.

June 22nd, 2009 Porsche: Bank seeks improved credit bidSTUTTGART, Germany — Car maker Porsche said Monday that a German state-owned bank has asked it to make improvements in its application for euro1.75 billion ($2.4 billion). Stuttgart-based Porsche is trying to alleviate debt it ran up as it increased its stake in larger German auto maker Volkswagen AG, in which it now holds a 51 percent stake.

May 13th, 2009 ROME - The Vatican has involved itself in a fresh public relations fiasco for seeking to rewrite the biography of Pope Benedict XVI by denying that he was ever a member of the Hitler Youth. Even though the 82-year-old German pontiff has admitted in numerous interviews that he was drafted unwillingly into the Nazi youth movement towards the end of the war, his spokesman came up with another version.

May 10th, 2009 LONDON - A self-portrait by Adolf Hitler, which sold at an auction for 10,000 pounds - ten times its reserve price, is now being denounced as fake. When the painting, signed "A.

May 3rd, 2009 Kuznetsova beats Safina in Porsche GP finalSTUTTGART, Germany — Svetlana Kuznetsova upset top-ranked Dinara Safina 6-4, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Porsche Grand Prix and capture her first WTA title since September 2007. It was Safina's first tournament since becoming No.

April 29th, 2009 Kuznetsova advances at Porsche GPSTUTTGART, Germany — Fifth-seeded Svetlana Kuznetsova has beat German qualifier Andrea Petkovic 6-4, 5-7, 6-1 in the first round of the Porsche Grand Prix. Kuznetsova wasted a match point in the second set Wednesday against the 143rd-ranked Petkovic, but the Russian bounced back and eventually won five straight games to help wrap up the match.

January 5th, 2009 STUTTGART - Volkswagen (VW) shares rose sharply Tuesday, a day after sports carmaker Porsche announced it had acquired a majority stake in its German rival. VW shares climbed to 287.09 euros ($384) on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange, up 12.7 percent from Monday when Porsche disclosed it had increased its stake in Europe's biggest carmaker to 50.76 percent.