Still looks good after all these years.

Having succeeded in remaining profitable through the worst of the global recession, Volkswagen AG continues to pounce on acquisitions of opportunity.

It is now stalking an old ally, Wilhelm Karmann GmbH, according to press accounts in Germany.

Volkswagen’s management is offering “low double digit” millions of Euros for the company, the German news magazine Der Spiegel reported Monday. The owners of privately held Karmann are apparently resisting, claiming the assets are worth substantially more than VW is offering to pay.

However, VW appears to hold the upper hand in the negotiations. Karmann filed for the German equivalent of bankruptcy in April needs more money by November 1 or it could face liquidation.

The laws governing insolvency in Germany are neither as flexible nor as forgiving as bankruptcy laws in the US. As a contract manufacturer, Karmann’s underpinnings have been hit hard by a sudden drop in sales and German requirements that left the company responsible for the unemployment benefits of its idled workers.

Karmann has built car bodies for several different automakers over the years, including many Audi and Mercedes-Benz models, and of course for VW itself.

VW marketed for almost two decades, the legendary Karmann-Ghia, which resulted from three- way collaboration between VW, Karmann and the Italian design firm of Ghia. While the Karmann-Ghia remains popular with car buffs in both Europe and North America, the principal reason VW is prepared to step in and buy Karmann’s assets is to ensure production of new electric vehicles it is preparing to introduce in 2011.

Karmann has already been working on the VW contract and an acquisition means that precious development time is not lost to a court proceeding involving the disposition of the Karmann’s assets.