FRANKFURT (AFP) - Volkswagen, already the biggest European car maker, aims to overtake Toyota of Japan as the biggest worldwide in 2018 by selling 11 million vehicles, the German magazine Capital said Wednesday.
VW, which sold 5.7 million cars and lorries last year, expects to reach its goal primarily through increased sales of VW brand cars, which it hopes to boost from 3.6 million to 6.5 million in 10 years, said the report, which is to hit newsstands on Thursday.
Volkswagen also owns the Audi, Skoda and Seat brands.
Capital quoted what it said was a confidential VW document titled "Strategy 2018" that was reportedly approved by the VW supervisory board last week, when the company announced a 10-year investment plan worth 28.9 billion euros (42.9 billion dollars).
The magazine said VW planned to revamp a broad range of cars while also slashing costs.
Volkswagen declined to comment on the report and told AFP its plan would be presented to company directors in December.
Toyota gained the position as leading global car maker this year, beating perennial number one General Motors of the United States with sales of more than eight million vehicles.
