Although last year's sales didn't look that bad, having recorded a 0.6 percent increase, that's exactly what Volkswagen plans to do in 2009. Yet, according to Just-auto.com, executive Martin Winterkorn said in an interview at the Detroit Auto Show that production volume might fall by 10 percent. This measure could be taken as a reaction to a falling global market down by around 20 percent.
VW sales in China seemed pretty encouraging, however. The German car manufacturer managed to sell about one million vehicle for the first time in the word's second biggest auto market. "We have kept our promise: the Volkswagen group delivered more vehicles than ever before in the difficult year of 2008," Winterkorn said.
More importantly, VW chief executive spoke about their plan to construct a new US plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, but predicted that the first cars would be produced there starting with spring 2011. Nothing is yet official as Winterkorn refused to give any details, but it seems that the first vehicle to roll off the Chattanooga's production line will be a new mid-sized car designed for North America.
Since 2009 is expected to be a difficult year for the auto industry, Winterkorn claimed that his company was concentrating on building attractive, economic and clean vehicles. He is also hoping that VW fuel efficient vehicle range will help the company to emerge “safe” from the financial crisis. And as the global trend is to build electric vehicles, he also stated that his company takes this specific aspect into consideration.
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