Volkswagen chief Martin Winterkorn has predicted world car sales would fall by up to 20% next year while the industry would have to confront “painful” changes.
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The VW chairman told a German newspaper his firm would survive the crisis better than others “but the fall could be up to 10% for the Volkswagen group”.
“The situation for us is not great but it is not radically bad,” Winterkorn was quoted as saying.
“The last few weeks have shown us that we were well prepared, but the same goes for us, we cannot go on like this.”
“We expect the fall in sales to continue and even get worse in some circumstances. The industry faces painful changes.”
Winterkorn confirmed earlier forecasts for 2008 with an increase in sales and operating profit and said there was no plan yet to reduce working hours at the company’s factories, Agence France-Presse reported.
