Volkswagen has a steep climb to the top of the vehicle market
VOLKSWAGEN will need to address some regional gaps as it seeks to become the world’s largest carmaker, head of personnel Horst Neumann admitted yesterday, citing weakness in vans and light trucks in emerging markets.
“We must not believe that we’ve made it, that we’re rich and invincible now,” Neumann told German daily Handelsblatt in an interview to be published today.
“Only then can we address remaining weaknesses. Compared to strong competitors such as Toyota and Hyundai we have yet to establish a presence in certain segments, for instance in compact commercial vehicles in emerging markets. In markets such as southeast Asia there is still a lot to do for us,” Neumann said.
Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, increased first-half deliveries across its multi-brand group by 8.9 per cent to 4.45m cars.
The company has a goal of boosting sales to 10m vehicles by 2018 and to surpass Toyota and GM as the industry’s largest player.