NOVEMBER 1, 2001

VW doing well

VOLKSWAGEN has bucked the trend in the automobile world and has recorded a 9.8% rise in pre-tax profits for the third quarter, making a pre-tax profit of $895m. VW's luxury brand Audi is responsible for about a third of the profits and is continuing to show strong sales and is expected to have a sixth consecutive record year.

Although everyone at the company is denying that there are any plans for a Formula 1 program in the future, there is no doubt that once the new management team takes over next Spring there are going to be a lot of changes, including a complete re-evaluation of the various VW brands and an F1 program should very definitely not be ruled out just because an executive or two say that there are currently no plans to enter Grand Prix racing.

If entering F1 makes sense there is no doubt that the new chairman Bernd Pischetsrieder will happily take the company racing.