Group 1 - Porsche has officially acquired V4Drive, a subsidiary of German company Varta, and the brand will be renamed to V4Smart, making Porsche the major shareholder of the new company [1] - The integration of expertise in developing and producing high-performance cylindrical batteries will be a focus for both Porsche and Varta [1] - Production of V4Smart brand batteries has commenced, with a new factory in Nordlingen set to start manufacturing cylindrical batteries in April, intended for the new 911 GTS model [1]