Sharjah 24 – AFP: Volkswagen's first-quarter net profit almost doubled as the German automaker looked anew to the North American market to drive growth after years of muted presence there over "dieselgate", company results showed Wednesday.
Over the first three months of the year, Volkswagen raked in a net profit of 6.7 billion euros ($7 billion), up from 3.4 billion euros in the same period last year.
The Wolfsburg-based group has shown "resilience" in the face of supply bottlenecks which have tormented automakers over the past year, CEO Herbert Diess said in a statement.
Volkswagen was able to "mitigate" the impact of supply bottlenecks for parts, Diess said, with the group recently able to supply factories in the United States and China with unused semiconductors from Europe.
The reduced availability of the chips, a key component in both conventional and electric vehicles made scarce by the coronavirus pandemic, forced intermittent stoppages at the carmaker last year.
"Even in a more polarised world, Volkswagen is firmly committed to expanding its global footprint," Diess said.
The US market has the "biggest strategic potential", Diess told journalists at a press conference.
"We think America will be basically untouched by what's happening in Europe, so for sure it should be geostrategically a region where we should invest more," the CEO said.
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