Photo: Volkswagen
A few years back, Volkswagen Group announced a major plan which would lead them to 10 million sales per year by 2018 though new plants, heavy investment and rapid model expansion. Overtaking Toyota as the biggest global car company may, however, come much sooner than even the Germans would have expected. In a statement made earlier today, Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn stated that "there is a good chance that we will exceed the ten million deliveries mark this year.”
Considering 9.73 million cars have been delivered in 2013, Volkswagen is well within grabbing distance of its goals. The German-based conglomerate of companies has already surpassed General Motors as the second largest car company in the world and Winterkorn believes they already have the tools to do more, what he calls the "modular toolkits" referring to the MQB and other platforms shared between the brands.
Going forward, success in numbers is on the agenda. This year and next year, the Volkswagen Group brands will be launching more than 100 new models, successors and product enhancements.
Not only sales, but also company earnings will rise as more and more models switch to modular architecuture, the CEO says. Despite such a wide pallet, the Germans are still cautious in their outlook as challenges are expected from the "difficult market environment and fierce competition, as well as interest rate and exchange rate volatility and fluctuations in raw materials prices."
Stock markets had an initial positive reaction to the news today, VW shares jumping as much as 4.5 percent. At the time of writhing though, Frankfurt numbers show the stock is almost flat as investors have digested the growth potential on balance with an almost 12% rise over the past 365 days.
Going forward, success in numbers is on the agenda. This year and next year, the Volkswagen Group brands will be launching more than 100 new models, successors and product enhancements.
Not only sales, but also company earnings will rise as more and more models switch to modular architecuture, the CEO says. Despite such a wide pallet, the Germans are still cautious in their outlook as challenges are expected from the "difficult market environment and fierce competition, as well as interest rate and exchange rate volatility and fluctuations in raw materials prices."
Stock markets had an initial positive reaction to the news today, VW shares jumping as much as 4.5 percent. At the time of writhing though, Frankfurt numbers show the stock is almost flat as investors have digested the growth potential on balance with an almost 12% rise over the past 365 days.
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