The Volkswagen Group’s multibrand structure comprising largely independent brands that achieve maximum synergies is one of its defining features. In 2011, we increased our global market share, thus paving the way for us to achieve our goal of being the global market leader in 2018. Strict cost management will allow us to continue our focus on profitability in our sales activities. The structures that have been put in place have been designed for managing a multibrand organization.
We are successively scaling back activities that do not add value to our sales structure so as to cut costs, increase the attractiveness of our wholesale and dealer system, and boost our overall profitability. New sales network strategies were developed for all brands in 2011 with the goal of further optimizing cooperation with the dealers. Together, we shall expand our activities in the various business areas – not only in vehicle sales, but also in areas such as customer service and financial and insurance services.
