Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on March 2 its 2008 profit rose 15% and it expected to gain market share during the current global automotive sector crisis.

A VW statement said 2008 net profit came to 4.75 billion euros (US$6 billion) as sales rose 4.5% to a record 113.8 billion euros, with operating profit up 3% to 6.3 billion euros.

"We met our target and surpassed our record results for 2007 even though conditions were tougher," chairman Martin Winterkorn said.

VW said it aimed to do better than the sector as a whole in 2009 and "will be able to gain additional market share during the crisis," but it added that sales and earnings were expected to decline. "The current year remains extremely difficult for the entire automotive industry. Our target is to fare better than the overall market."

"Based on the extremely weak business at the beginning of the year, earnings will not reach the high levels of previous years," it added.

Copyright Agence France-Presse, 2009