Strategy

The key element of our “Strategy 2018” is to position the Volkswagen Group as a global economic and environmental leader among automobile manufacturers. In 2018, the Volkswagen Group aims to be the most successful and fascinating automaker in the world. In order to achieve that, we have set ourselves four goals:

• Volkswagen intends to become a world leader by using intelligent innovations and technologies, while at the same time delivering customer satisfaction and quality.
• Over the long term, Volkswagen aims to increase unit sales to more than 10 million vehicles a year; it intends to capture an above-average share as the major growth markets develop.
• Volkswagen intends to increase its return on sales before tax to at least 8% in the long term in order to safeguard its solid financial position and ability to take action, even during difficult market periods.
• Volkswagen aims to become the top employer across all brands, companies and regions; it must do so in order to build a first-class team.

We are paying particular attention to our environmentally friendly orientation and the profitability of our vehicle projects. This also ensures that the Company can be successful with the right products, even in an economically difficult environment, and that capital expenditure remains at manageable levels. With our attractive and environmentally friendly range of vehicles, which we are steadily and rationally expanding, and the excellent position of the separate brands in the markets worldwide, we are able to leverage the Group’s strengths and to systematically increase our competitive advantage. Our activities are oriented on setting new ecological standards in the areas of vehicles, powertrains and lightweight construction. Thanks to the modular platform system, which we enhance continuously, we are constantly improving production efficiency and flexibility, thus increasing the Group’s profitability.

We aim to substantially expand our customer base by attracting new customers worldwide and steadily increasing customer satisfaction. Even amid the current economic conditions, we will continue unchanged the ongoing measures to improve productivity and quality. Together with disciplined cost and investment management, our efforts to standardize direct and indirect processes and reduce throughput times help ensure that we reach our long-term profitability targets and secure solid liquidity for the long term.


Source: Annual Report 2009 / 2010