The Volkswagen Group met and even beat its targets for 2013 despite the challenging competitive environment. “2013 was an extremely challenging year for European automakers in particular. We weren’t helped either by our home market or by exchange rates. Nevertheless, the Volkswagen Group put up a strong showing despite the difficult conditions”, said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, during the presentation of the company’s 2013 financial results in Berlin on Thursday. Winterkorn announced that the Group will now focus even more strongly on qualitative growth, with a particular emphasis on earnings quality, quality in development and people
quality.
According to Winterkorn, the Group already holds the key to sustainably strengthening its earnings quality in its hands in the shape of its modular toolkits. Rolling out the toolkit strategy across the Group in the coming years would be a unique achievement in the automotive industry. “As volumes grow and new models are added, we will also see increasingly positive earnings effects”, he said.
