Volkswagen bets on productivity in a difficult year

March 8 (Reuters) – Volkswagen must focus on the productivity of its consumer brands to face increased competition this year as supply chains improve, car production increases and consumers remain under pressure , executives said Wednesday.

“2023 has to be the year of productivity,” chief financial officer Arno Antlitz told 360 Grad newspaper.

Thomas Schaeffer, Antlitz and VW brand manager, said supply chain issues would continue to affect production this year, but Antlitz said chip supply was improving.

Volkswagen said last week it expected sales to reach 331 billion euros ($350 billion) this year and forecast a 14% increase in vehicle deliveries from 2022.

(1 dollar = 0.9454 euros)

(Reporting by Jan Schwartz and Victoria Waldersee; Editing by Riham Alkousaa and Mark Potter, Spanish editing by José Muñoz)