Volkswagen eyes top global position by 2018
03 Feb 2010
The Volkswagen Group has affirmed plans to move to the top spot in the world's automotive industry ahead of Toyota in another eight years. To achieve these ambitions the Group intends to boost vehicle sales across its line up of marques by 60 per cent.
The Group currently occupies the third spot behind top ranked Toyota and American giant General Motors.
The targets were approved by the German group's management board on Tuesday. Such ambitions were originally formulated back in 2007.
"The Volkswagen Group is seeking global economic and environmental leadership in the automotive industry by 2018," it said while detailing its so-called "Strategy 2018."
Its ambitions are receiving an unexpected push from Toyota's quality stumbles that have punched a hole in the industry leader's key selling point – quality.
The Wolfsburg, Germany-based VW has targeted sales of around 8 million in the medium term, touching the 10 million mark by 2018. For 2009, it has sold 6.3 million vehicles to grab 11.4 per cent of the global vehicle market.