By Andreas Cremer Feb. 2 (Bloomberg) — Volkswagen AG , Europe’s biggest carmaker, said it will refrain from seeking to win away owners of Toyota Motor Corp. vehicles in the U.S. with discounts and dismissed price cuts as “predatory practices.” Volkswagen will remain “an aggressive competitor,” though it won’t target “any one manufacturer” by using special incentives such as those offered by General Motors Co. to boost U.S. sales, Mark Barnes , chief operating officer of VW’s North American unit, told Bloomberg today in an e-mailed response to questions. Toyota faces “unfortunate circumstances in the marketplace” following the Japanese manufacturer’s recalls of some models to fix accelerator pedals that may stick, Barnes said. “We will continue to focus on retaining existing Volkswagen owners and introducing new customers to our brand, regardless of the brand of vehicle they currently own.” The comments are Volkswagen ’s first since GM and Ford Motor Co. announced incentives a week ago targeted at drivers of Toyota models in the U.S. Wolfsburg, Germany-based Volkswagen has a goal of overtaking Toyota as the world’s largest carmaker, said today that it plans to sell more than 10 million cars and sport-utility vehicles by 2018. VW’s U.S. target for that year, including deliveries by the Audi luxury unit, is to more than triple sales to 1 million vehicles. Discounts Detroit-based GM is offering no-interest loans on as many as 60 months for purchases of new models with a Toyota trade-in. For Toyota lease customers, GM will make as many as three payments up to a total value of $1,000, and dealers will offer another $1,000 toward trade-in assistance. Dearborn, Michigan- based Ford plans to offer $1,000 rebates to Toyota and Honda Motor Co. customers to encourage them switch to its models. “There’s no compelling reason why VW should rush into a special sales campaign,” said Daniel Schwarz , an analyst with Commerzbank AG in Frankfurt. “They’re bound to increase their U.S. market share” after opening a 150,000-car plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, next year. “That’s how you best close the gap on Toyota.” VW’s preferred stock fell as much as 2 percent to 59.46 euros and was down 0.2 percent as of 4:48 p.m. in Frankfurt trading. The shares have gained 74 percent in the past 12 months, valuing VW at 25.9 billion euros ($36 billion). Volkswagen sold 6.29 million vehicles worldwide last year, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2008, boosting its global market share to 11.4 percent from 10.3 percent. The carmaker relies on about 580 dealers across the U.S. Pedal Flaws VW sent letters to its dealers yesterday detailing its U.S. discounting policy after receiving queries from dealers on whether VW plans to introduce incentives. Toyota’s worldwide deliveries in 2009, including sales by affiliates, fell 13 percent to 7.81 million vehicles. Deliveries may drop by more than 20 percent because of the recalls, Executive Vice President Shinichi Sasaki told reporters in Nagoya, Japan, today, without giving a timeframe. The recall, to fix the pedals to prevent unintended acceleration, affects 4.45 million vehicles globally, Sasaki said. Including an earlier program involving floor mats also linked to unintended acceleration, the worldwide recall totals about 7.6 million vehicles, with 2.1 million in the U.S. To contact the reporter on this story: Andreas Cremer in Berlin at acremer@bloomberg.net .
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Volkswagen Won’t Employ `Predatory’ U.S. Car Discounts After Toyota Recall
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