Volkswagen is accelerating on record profits to overtake loss-stricken giant General Motors (GM) and Japanese Toyota within nine years, its management revealed boldly on Thursday.
The German giant, the biggest auto maker in Europe, is putting its foot down in the fast lane with the intention of becoming the biggest auto group in the world by 2018.
The gap is big, but the fuel tank of profits is powerful.
"I see Volkswagen in pole position ... after the crisis," chief executive Martin Winterkorn told a press conference here in the north of Germany.
"We are staying in the fast lane and the fuel tank is well topped up."
Volkswagen (VW) is the third-biggest auto manufacturer in the world, selling 6.3 million vehicles last year. GM and Totoya each sold rather more than eight million.
But GM is tottering close to bankruptcy despite huge US state aid, and Toyota expects to run up huge losses for its 2008-2009 year to the end of March.
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