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VW profits revved up by emerging markets growth
VOLKSWAGEN, Europe’s largest carmaker, posted consensus-busting first-quarter results and affirmed its upbeat 2011 outlook thanks to demand from emerging markets and lower costs.
“We continue to see the most dynamic growth prospects in the emerging markets of Asia and Latin America, whereas the industrialised nations will continue to experience only moderate growth,” Volkswagen said yesterday.
VW’s operating profit, not including earnings from its lucrative China business, surged to €2.91bn (£2.6bn).
Volkswagen has been aiming to surpass Toyota, the world’s biggest carmaker, in terms of global auto sales, and the Japan crisis could hamper Toyota’s production enough to push it to the number three spot behind General Motors and VW.