Automakers

Winterkorn says VW Group will top 10 million sales before 2018

Winterkorn: "One stumbling block would be that the new technologies do not catch on with customers, for example, if the wide range of alternative drives were not accepted by drivers."
Meet the boss

Name: Martin Winterkorn

Title: VW Group CEO

Age: 66

Main challenge: To make VW Group the world's biggest automaker by vehicle sales by 2018 as well as No. 1 in customer satisfaction and environmental sustainability while still maintaining a pre-tax profit margin of 8 percent.

Martin Winterkorn faced widespread skepticism when he said Volkswagen Group would sell 10 million cars a year by 2018, making it the world's largest automaker. Now the CEO says the company will reach its volume target earlier than planned. He admits that slow take-up of VW Group's forthcoming alternative-powertrain vehicles could undermine his plan, but he is confident that the automaker's plug-in hybrids, electric cars and hybrids will be winners with customers.

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