Volkswagen sees U.S. Sales Falling in 2004

Germany’s largest carmaker Volkswagen on Wednesday warned that sales in the key U.S. market would fall "significantly" next year. Volkswagen CEO Bernd Pischetsrieder told Bloomberg News that aging car models and the strength of the euro against the U.S. dollar would likely hurt sales in the United States. "With the product changeover and the incentive battle, it's clear sales will fall significantly in the U.S. next year,'' said Pischetsrieder. "We won't make any more profit there next year than this year." However, he told Bloomberg that profit overall should still rise in 2004, as demand for VW cars is expected to increase in Western Europe and China.