Volkswagen increases revenue, accelerates e-vehicle push

BERLIN, March 12 (Xinhua) -- The Volkswagen Group's annual sales revenue increased by 2.7 percent to 235.8 billion euros (265.7 billion U.S. dollars) in 2018 despite problems with the introduction of the new Worldwide Harmonized Light Vehicle Test Procedure (WLTP), Europe's largest carmaker announced here on Tuesday.

"We had a decent showing in 2018, especially against the backdrop of the changeover to the WLTP, which led to considerable upheaval in our sales performance," Herbert Diess, chief executive officer (CEO) of the Volkswagen group, commented.

Until September 2018, Volkswagen had struggled to have its models certified under WLTP, which led to a sharp drop in Volkswagen's registrations in the last quarter of 2018.

For fiscal year 2018, Volkswagen's operating profits remained practically unchanged from 2017 at 13.9 billion euros, the company said.

Profits were negatively affected by 3.2 billion euros worth of expenditure to cover costs relating to the so-called "dieselgate" crisis, in which Volkswagen and other German car manufacturers manipulated the emission test results of diesel cars.

For 2019, VW expects deliveries to slightly exceed the previous year's figure of 10.8 million cars despite the continuously "challenging market conditions," such as increasing competition, exchange rate volatility and stricter WLTP requirements. The Volkswagen Group expects turnover to increase by up to 5 percent in 2019.

"The headwinds in key markets are expected to strengthen further in 2019," said Diess. the company would have to "redouble" its efforts to meet the business targets set for fiscal 2019, he said.

Volkswagen also announced on Tuesday that it is aiming to sell 22 million electric vehicles within the next ten years. Previously, Volkswagen had projected to sell about 15 million electric vehicles during the next decade. Furthermore, the VW Group is planning to launch almost 70 new electric models by 2029, instead of the 50 previously planned.

"Volkswagen is taking on responsibility with regard to the key trends of the future -- particularly in connection with climate protection," said Diess, adding that the targets of the Paris Agreement would be Volkswagen's "yardstick." The company plans to achieve complete decarbonization by 2050. (1 euro = 1.13 U.S. dollars)