BERLIN – German auto giant Volkswagen (IW 1000/6) said Thursday it expects a massive cost-cutting program to begin bearing fruit this year.
In a bid to turn around its flagship VW brand, the carmaker has embarked on a drive to cut costs by $5.3 billion.
The program "has gotten off to a very good start," chief executive Martin Winterkorn told the group's annual earnings news conference.
So far, "we have identified opportunities for improvement that represent about half of our 5.0-billion-euro target. We expect a benefit of well over 1.0 billion euros in our result for the current year," Winterkorn said.
Last year was "another successful year" for Europe's biggest car maker, the group said.
Deliveries grew by 4.2% last year to over 10.1 million vehicles, sales revenue increased by 2.8% to 202.5 billion euros and operating profit rose by 1.0 billion euros to a record 12.7 billion euros.
"We are being deliberately rather more cautious," Winterkorn said.
"Our stated goal for fiscal year 2015 is to achieve further growth both in terms of volumes and in our sales revenue and operating profit."
Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2015
