What's going on?

Volkswagen said on Monday that its plans to list Porsche on the stock market are still on track, and investors can hardly wait.

What does this mean?

Volkswagen started gearing up to list Porsche on the stock market all the way back in February, but all-out war in Europe and the resulting market downfalls haven�t exactly set the scene for success. Well, try telling that to investors: they seem as keen as ever, with reports out late last month showing they�ve been lining up round the block to get their share of one of the carmaker�s most prized brands. In fact, there have been more share pre-orders than there are shares on offer, which could help value Porsche at as much as $85 billion. The sky�s the limit: Volkswagen�s apparently thinking about opening up share sales to retail investors across Porsche-addicted Europe too, which could give the listing even more clout.

Why should I care?

The bigger picture: Why wait?
If demand is that strong for Porsche�s initial public offering during these miserable conditions, just imagine it when the economy�s booming. Literally, you�ll probably need to imagine it: the world�s second-biggest carmaker needs the cash from this listing soon for its revamped strategy, which includes turbo-charging investments in electric vehicles by 50% over the next five years, rolling out new cars, and ramping up software investments.

Zooming out: Porsche is special.
Not all luxury carmakers are in investors� good books right now: Aston Martin�s shares nosedived by 14% on Monday, after the loss-making carmaker announced it was selling heavily discounted shares to new and existing investors to pay down debts and invest in new models (tweet this). Those shares have already lost over two-thirds of their value this year, and this news will hardly appease analysts who believe Aston Martin could end up booted from the FTSE 250 index later this year.