Without fresh funds, the German independent contract carmaker and convertible roof-top specialist, will have to shut down in early November as new orders remain scarce and customers remain unwilling to pay their bills.
Volkswagen has bid a low double-digit million euro sum for Karmann, whose owning families Battenfeld, Boll and Karmann are demanding almost 100 million euros ($150 million), Spiegel said in a preview of an article to be published on Monday.
Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, declined to comment on the matter.
Most famous for the 1950s VW Beetle-based coupe dubbed the Karmann Ghia, Karmann also developed the retractable hardtop roof first introduced with the Mercedes-Benz SLK before the idea was later copied by competitors, finding widespread use in popular volume models like the Peugeot 207cc.
(Reporting by Maria Sheahan; Additional reporting by Arno Schuetze, editing by Patrick Graham)