Volkswagen is turning to the US market

CEO Herbert Diess said in an interview with the German business magazine Handelsblatt that VW is increasingly focusing its investments on the U.S. market. In the United States, "the growth prospects are much better than in Europe," said the head of the German group of companies.

The war in Ukraine is likely to burden European business for a long time to come, and the dramatic rise in prices, together with energy supply and supply problems, will only be a "foretaste" of future problems. There are also many difficulties in the once explosive Chinese market, where VW sells about 40 percent of its production. Therefore, the strengthening will also help mitigate geopolitical risks in the U.S. market, Herbert Diess explained, adding that VW "needs to position itself more widely worldwide."

According to him, specific U.S. goals include increasing market share from the current 4 percent to 10 percent. “We’re too small in America, we need a much bigger market share to play a major role,” he said.
The prestigious company, battered by the 2015 diesel scandal, expects breakthroughs in electromobility, high hopes for the first fully electric product family, the ID model series minibus (ID.Buzz), and in addition to building a new battery plant, they are considering the vehicle’s outstanding U.S. popularity. building an electric-powered pick-up truck.

Handelsblatt interviewed the head of the company, which employs 660,000 people, on the occasion that VW published its management data for 2021, according to which it sold fewer products but significantly increased its revenue.

Combining the brands belonging to the group, the company sold 8.576 million vehicles last year, almost 600,000 less than the 9.157 million a year earlier. Revenue was € 250.2 billion, up 12 percent from 222.8 billion a year earlier. Operating profit rose from € 9.68 billion to € 19.28 billion.

Among the car brands, Porsche remains the group's most important source of revenue, with sales of € 30.2 billion and an operating profit of € 5 billion last year, with sales of 297,000 cars.

Even the largest brand, the naming Volkswagen, is increasingly dominated by high-priced cars. This was also highlighted in Wednesday’s online briefing on the member company’s results, pointing out that 40 per cent of sales come from urban SUVs.

Last year, 2.719 million of Volkswagen's cars were sold worldwide, with revenue of 76.1 billion euros and an operating profit of 2.5 billion euros. In second place is Audi with 1,009 units sold, followed by Skoda with 784,000 units.

In addition to the naming Volkswagen and Porsche, the group brings together Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Cupra, Lamborghini, Skoda and Seat car brands and also manufactures motorcycles (Ducati) and trucks (MAN).

(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)