Volkswagen Group’s annual press conference held in Germany last week was more than just about the profits and losses of the automaker for the previous year. The Group outlined its future plans of leading the global automotive market by launching 100 new models across its different brands by 2016. The German automaker is fighting hard towards world domination and the new plan will help realise the goal faster.
The Volkswagen Group comprises of brands like Audi, Seat, Bentley, Skoda, Porsche, Lamborghini, Bugatti, Scania, Volkswagen passenger and commercial vehicles, and the 100 new models will include product enhancements, successors as well as brand new models. Significant models like the next generation Audi A4, Q7, Volkswagen Passat, Skoda Fabia, Seat Ibiza, Porsche Macan, and a plug-in hybrid variant of the Porsche Cayenne and Audi Q7 are part of the list, slated for launch by 2016. Audi also confirmed that the A6, Q3 and the Q5 will be refreshed this year.
2013 saw the Volkswagen Group achieve a target of 9.7 million units and the company believes that this year they will be able to surpass the 10 million unit sales mark, four years earlier than originally planned. The last year saw Volkswagen Group put up a tough fight against competitors in spite of a challenging environment, overall slowdown in the market and even fluctuating exchange rates.
Volkswagen spent over $10 billion on research and development last year, more than any other manufacturer in the world, while the Group’s operating profit increased from 11.5 billion Euros in 2012 to 11.7 billion Euros in 2013. Volkswagen’s modular toolkit strategy will help the company grow significantly in the coming years and will see sustained quality and earnings. The company also announced that the group will now focus even more on qualitative growth.
