Volkswagen plans to overtake Toyota to become world auto leader by 2018
It's all here. The 170-miles-per-gallon diesel hybrid. The pure electric car that Volkswagen calls a 21st-century Beetle. A variety of models with small gasoline engines that promise good power and mileage. And, of course, the diesels that are a VW forte and that the automaker is sure will have a major role in meeting the market's fuel-economy demands for a while.
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Source: Volkswagen plans to overtake Toyota to become world auto leader by 2018
Quote from the article:
More than gee-whiz, VW showed off its visions for the future in a technical briefing at a motorsports park here recently for one reason: to demonstrate how it can meet its ambitious goals in an atmosphere of auto-industry crisis and ever-stricter emissions and mileage regulations. VW, its executives say without blinking, wants to be king of the auto world. Not just outsell Toyota a month here and there, as it already does. Not just hold off a likely challenge the next few years from a resurgent General Motors. Once and for all, "being No. 1 in the world in terms of (production and sales) numbers," says Christian Klingler, Volkswagen Group management board member in charge of VW brand sales and marketing. Oh, yes, he adds, be "one of the most profitable manufacturers" in the industry. VW has a 2018 plan to get there – "not just to survive but to thrive," Klingler says – that's also supposed to make VW ubiquitous, top-of-mind, the very definition of "automobile," as it provocatively suggests in its advertising tagline Das Auto (German for "The Car"). Good luck with that, say skeptical U.S. analysts. They note that one fat leg of VW's plan involves tripling sales in the U.S., where the VW brand reputation for troublesome vehicles has limited its appeal beyond loyalists. The company's Audi luxury line has gained similar notoriety. Together, the two brands account for just 2.8% of the U.S. market. |
Source: Volkswagen plans to overtake Toyota to become world auto leader by 2018
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