Volkswagen posts record '09 sales, targets Toyota

Volkswagen AG, Europe's largest carmaker, reported record sales for 2009 and said it's sticking to a goal of overtaking Toyota Motor Corp. by 2018.

VW sold 6.29 million cars and sport-utility vehicles worldwide last year, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2008, sales chief Christian Klingler said at the Detroit auto show today. Deliveries by the namesake brand climbed 7.8 percent to 3.95 million cars. VW's global market share rose to 11.4 percent from 10.3 percent, he said.

Volkswagen Chief Executive Officer Martin Winterkorn has a target of beating Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker, in global deliveries and profit margins. VW's sales in China, which surpassed the U.S. as the world's largest auto market last year, surged 37 percent to 1.4 million vehicles. Wolfsburg, Germany- based VW said it wants to increase its worldwide market share further in 2010, even in a "challenging" sales environment.

"The goal is clearly marked out and if you look at the past two years, Volkswagen is on a promising path," said Christian Aust, an analyst at UniCredit SpA in Munich. "Especially in emerging markets, the company has been able to position itself better than competitors."