The Volkswagen Group recoreded record vehicle sales, sales revenue and earnings in 2011 and is confident about its prospects for 2012. "The Volkswagen Group has extended its string of unbroken successes in 2011. We are making steady progress on our way to pole position in the automotive industry," said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of VW's Board of Management of Volkswagen  Winterkorn said the The Volkswagen Group clearly beat its ambitious goals in fiscal year 2011, setting new records doe  sales and earnings while selling more than 8 million units for the first time. The company's diverse model portfolio also continued to expand.
 Winterkorn also said he was convinced that Volkswagen's broad global positioning and unique diversity of brands, vehicles and services mean that the Company has what it takes to outperform its competitors. "Our Strategy 2018 is working. We remain on track on our way to the top of the automotive industry," said Winterkorn.
 CFO Hans Dieter Potsch added, "We have further increased our profitability and impressively demonstrated the robustness of our Group." The Volkswagen Group has established a strong position and its sound finances mean that it is well prepared for the future: "Expanding our production capacity in growth markets will help to reinforce our position there and improve the quality of our earnings." Given the volatile global economic environment, VW , plans to follow a stratgy of disciplined cost and investment management with a view to further increasing its profitability and competitiveness. By Joseph Szczesny