BERLIN (Reuters) – German carmaker Volkswagen plans to introduce a revamp of its core brand aimed at increasing efficiency and boosting returns, an internal memo from VW brand chief Thomas Schaefer seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed.
“We can see that our brand – despite all its strengths – is not yet on a sufficiently solid economic footing,” Schaefer wrote in the memo, adding the core brand needed to achieve a sustainable return on sales of 6.5%.
Handelsblatt business daily first reported the plans, saying they involved cost savings and were designed to increase annual results by at least 3 billion euros.
(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Chris Reese)