Volkswagen Group has not been shy about its ambitions to become the world’s largest, most profitable automaker, nor has it been hesitant concerning a strategy to achieve its goals. Recent financial reports indicate VW is starting to make some progress toward those ends, as it reported significant surges in global sales and profits.
The German automaker reported that its family of nine brands enjoyed a second quarter net profit of $6.66 billion, a huge increase from $1.78 billion during the same period in 2010.
Overall sales were 4.09 million for the first six months of 2011, a record for the VW group. North American sales, buoyed by the supersized and de-contented Jetta and Passat, rose 21.2 percent to 319,100 vehicles. Chinese sales were particularly robust, with 1.11 million units delivered for a increase of 16.4 percent.
VW’s long-term growth strategy involves expanding total sales to between 10 and 11 million units by the end of the decade, up from 7.1 million in 2010. VW has stated it is targeting 8 million sales for 2011.
Meanwhile, the automaker’s executives would like to see the core VW brand increase sales to 6.6 million units by 2018. To achieve that goal, VW needs to continue its expansion in China but also in the US, where new models targeted at the middle of the market are helping the brand move past its traditional role as a niche player but still are leaving room for improvement. US sales for the German brand in the first half of 2011 totaled 211,100 vehicles, compared with 812,788 for rival Toyota.
References
1.’VW net profit…’ view
