VW Unlikely To Meet 2002 Target

The Volkswagen Chief Executive Bernd Pischetsrieder promised to match his predecessor's record earnings in his first year as head of Europe's largest carmaker. Investors doubt he can do it.

In Western Europe, the company's vehicle sales fell by eight percent in the first half of the year. In the US, sales are down 1.7 percent and in Brazil, they plunged twenty one percent. The euro has also appreciated by ten percent against the dollar, reducing US profit levels for the group.

?They'll have to cut their forecast,? said Martin Stuerner, who helps manage 800 million euros ($785 million) at PEH Wertpapier AG and sold most of his Volkswagen shares in April and May. ?Pischetsrieder should do it now rather than later.?

The CEO, who was fired from the top job at Bayerische Motoren Werke AG three years ago, has reiterated that Volkswagen will equal last year's pretax profit of 4.4 billion euros. The company's shares have lost fifteen percent of their value so far this year, and are the worst performing European car stock after Fiat SpA.

Author: Neftegaz.ru