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INGOLSTADT  Germany (Reuters) - Germany’s Audi (NSUG.DE) has abandoned plans to sell its Italian motorcycle brand Ducati  its chief executive Rupert Stadler said  in a sign of confidence that the carmaker expects to be able to carry the costs of its transformation.
Steps to reduce costs by 10 billion euros ($11.8 billion)  cut red tape and deepen ties with fellow Volkswagen-owned (VOWG_p.DE) brand Porsche are “gradually increasing our financial and organizational leeway for the strategic realignment ”  chief executive Rupert Stadler  told reporters.
There is therefore no economic need to sell  Ducati  Stadler  said. Volkswagen asked banks to evaluate options for Ducati and transmissions maker Renk earlier this year as seeks to become more nimble in its shift towards electric and self-driving cars following its diesel emissions cheating scandal.
While pushing the costly shift to zero-emissions and autonomous technologies  holding on to the profitable Ducati division and the lucrative Lamborghini brand has become more important   Stadler  said.
“Looking after a premium bouquet is as difficult as the work of a gardener ”  Stadler  said. “Therefore I am pleased with every new flower  with every promising new branch ” he added  predicting Lamborghini’s sales would double on the back of its new sport-utility vehicle.
Separately   Stadler  said Audi will spend nearly half a billion euros over the next eight years on training staff for the digital age  with steps to develop as well as hire experts such as automotive app-designers and car robotics specialists.
Audi CEO drops plan to sell motorcycle brand Ducati

Mayor Rahm Emanuel on Thursday continued to defend his handpicked Chicago Public Schools chief in the face of a searing inspector generalâs report that accuses district CEO Forrest Claypool of engaging in a âfull-blown cover-upâ to ward off an ethics probe.
 Claypool  ârepeatedly liedâ during the investigation by denying  he  had asked an attorney to alter a bill for legal advice on an ethics issue involving the districtâs top attorney  said Inspector General Nicholas Schuler  who has recommended that  Claypool  be fired. âIâm not looking at freaking bills  â Claypool  said in one interview with investigators  according to Schulerâs report.
âAt every turn in this matter   Claypool  kept making matters worse. And it appears that  his  decisions were driven by a clear desire to keep information harmful to  his  narrative from the Board  the OIG and the public â Schuler wrote.
 Claypool  met privately with school board members on Thursday and issued a lengthy statement in which  he  apologized for âmistakes in judgmentâ while defending  his  legacy and making it clear  he  disagrees with Schulerâs interpretation of CPS ethics policy.
âTo put this in perspective: This situation is about how I zealously tried to get Chicago students their fair share of state education dollars  after years and years of racial discrimination  and getting those kids the best possible legal representation â said  Claypool   who canceled a scheduled appearance at a North Side elementary school on Thursday. He did not directly address Schulerâs most damaging allegations.
Claypoolâs alleged cover-up turned an investigation into whether district attorney Ronald Marmer violated CPS ethics policies on contracts and business relationships into a call for  Claypoolâs  termination. Schuler also is recommending that Marmer be disciplined with a âlengthy suspension or even termination.â
Marmer is one of several of  Claypool 's former colleagues and past political donors who have won district jobs and consulting contracts. He has received annual payments of roughly $200 000 as severance from the law firm of Jenner & Block in addition to his CPS salary.
Three attorneys on a CPS ethics committee concluded Marmer couldnât manage the contract because his severance payments created a âbusiness relationshipâ with Jenner.. A fourth CPS attorney  Joseph Moriarty  was told of the committeeâs decision and agreed with it. Moriarty told Schuler that Marmer âbecame concerned by the decision â and was going to speak with  Claypool .
 Claypool  and Marmer then turned to former CPS general counsel Patrick Rocks for another opinion  Schuler said. In a conference call with  Claypool  and two other attorneys  Rocks said he agreed with CPS' legal consensus.
 So Claypool  and Marmer decided to ask labor attorney James Franczek for his take. Franczek also agreed with the previous opinions  which didnât go down well with  Claypool  and Marmer. He later sent an email to Moriarty that said âI think I am off the xmas card list.â
 Claypool  ultimately turned to political donor J. Timothy Eaton  who  according to Schulerâs report  served as a teacherâs assistant for a college course  Claypool  took while Eaton was a law student.
 âClaypool  attempted to paper over the opinions of the six attorneys with Eatonâs letter â Schuler wrote in his report. In addition  after the IGâs investigation had begun  Marmer complained about Franczekâs bill  which had âCPSâs Code of Ethicsâ and âethics issuesâ listed on it.  Claypool  asked Franczek to change the listings. Franczek then crossed out the entries and hand wrote âpersonnelâ and âpersonnel issuesâ in their place  the report says.
Franczek delivered the reworded invoice back to  Claypool  with a cover letter marked âFor Forrest Claypoolâs Eyes Only.â
In interviews with the IG during the investigation   Claypool â unequivocally  emphatically and repeatedlyâ denied  he  had asked Franczek to make changes to the bill  and said â he  would never have been involved in such lowly billing matters.â
But last month  in a letter to Schuler's office   Claypool  apologized for intervening to reword the invoice.  Claypool 's letter acknowledged Schuler had documents that contradicted the CEO's initial claim.
â He  turned 180 degrees from claiming certain memory to no memory at all â Schuler wrote in  his  report. â His  letter was designed to taint the Boardâs reception of the OIGâs final report by falsely portraying lies on two separate occasions as mere lapses of memory.â
CPS watchdog says CEO Forrest Claypool ' repeatedly lied' during ethics probe

Speaking earlier about progress towards the merger   Essilor’s Chief Operating Officer Laurent Vacherot  said: “We are serene ” repeating that the deal was expected to close in the first half of 2018.
Announcing its annual results   Essilor  said  it  was targeting revenue growth of around 4 percent in 2018. Revenues rose 3.1 percent on a like-for-like basis to 7.5 billion euros last year  partly helped by higher sales in North America.
 Vacherot  said Essilor would keep pursuing  its  strategy of bolt-on acquisitions in 2018  particularly in China and India.
Luxottica  which has been restructuring since 2014  forecast on Monday steady growth in sales and profits this year.  Its  shares rose 5.2 percent.

EU U.S clear Essilor's 48 billion euro merger with Luxottica