Volkswagen Already Exceeds 2010 Profit in First Nine Months of 2011

Volkswagen announced on October 27 that its profits so far this year have already exceeded its profits in 2010. The company has already made an operating profit of €9.0 billion, compared to €7.1 billion last year. 

“We shall continue to launch fascinating new models onto the market in the coming months and hence expand the Volkswagen Group’s strong position in the global markets”, said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.

Volkswagen is growing worldwide. It now controls 12.4% of the world market and has delivered 6.2 million vehicles so far this year. All of the VW brands have shown growth with Volkswagen car brand being the volume leader at 3.3 million vehicles sold.

VW's growth leader has been Bentley with sales up 51.2% over last year. Bentley has sold 5,000 vehicles in the first three quarters compared to 3,000 last year. 

According to Winterkorn, VW is on track to be the world's largest automaker by 2018. 

Here is the question, if a more profitable VW a better VW? At least in the US, there have been complaints about the new Jetta and Passat being cheapened over the previous models. Is Volkswagen making more money by making cheaper cars, not better ones?