In a statement Volkswagen’s Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said, it stop producing a number of combustion engine models by the end of this decade, and sell fewer cars overall as it increases its focus on producing more profitable premium vehicles.

“The key target is not growth,” said Antlitz. “We are (more focused) on quality and on margins, rather than on volume and market share.”

Over the next 8 years, VW aims to reduce its range of petrol and diesel cars, consisting of at least 100 models spread across several brands, by 60% in Europe, said Antlitz.

The change in VW’s strategy marks profound, significant changes in the auto industry: while earlier the strategy was to increase profits by selling more cars each year, even if that required heavy discounting, the current strategy aims to increase profitability by increasing margins.

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Tags: Arno Antlitz, CFO, Chief Financial Officer, combustion engine, diesel cars, margins, market share, models, petrol cars, premium cars, premium vehicles, producing, production, profitable, quality, Volkswagen, volume