Chief Executive Herbert Diess in March said Volkswagen was reviewing its portfolio of brands, which also include Ducati and Bentley, and whether to divest some non-core businesses. Last month, Diess said the company was working to free up resources for the development and mass production of electric cars.

Volkswagen is readying to fold Lamborghini into a separate legal entity, in a process that may wind up toward the end of next year, Bloomberg reported, citing sources.

The company was not immediately available for a comment outside business hours.

Volkswagen had aggressively expanded under the leadership of Ferdinand Piech, who was chief executive and chairman between 1993 and 2015, acquiring Bentley, Bugatti and Lamborghini in a single year.

(Reporting by Nivedita Balu in Bengaluru; Editing by Leslie Adler)