VW to scrap models and focus on premium market: CFO tells FT

A new logo for German carmaker Volkswagen is unveiled at the VW headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, September 9, 2019. REUTERS/Fabian Bimmer

BERLIN, April 6 (Reuters) – German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE) will phase out many combustion engine models by the end of the decade and sell fewer cars overall to focus on producing more profitable premium vehicles, its chief financial officer said. quoted on Wednesday.

“The key objective is not growth,” Arno Antlitz told the Financial Times newspaper. “We are (more focused) on quality and margins, rather than volume and market share.”

Antlitz said VW would cut its range of petrol and diesel cars, which consists of at least 100 models spread across various brands, by 60% in Europe over the next eight years.

The newspaper said VW’s new strategy was a sign of profound changes in the auto sector, which has tried for decades to boost profits by selling more cars each year, even if that required deep discounts.

Former VW chief executive Martin Winterkorn, who resigned in the wake of a diesel emissions scandal, had set out to beat Toyota and General Motors for the “volume number one” title for 2018.

Information from Emma Thomasson; Edited by Clarence Fernandez

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