• The Detroit Bureau, Friday, July 15, 2011 10 AM

Volkswagen AG posted a record 4 million sales for the first half of 2011, but the company must "stay on the accelerator" to be number one, the company's CEO Martin Winterkorn says.

To reach that goal, the company is focusing on the U.S., China, India and Brazil. VW's multi-brand strategy is giving the maker a distinct advantage over the competition, per another executive.

The company's record 7.2 million sales in 2010, and Volkswagen Group sales gains of 12% during the first half of 2011 means the company is the world's second-largest automaker, behind General Motors but ahead of Toyota.

Winterkorn has set a goal of being number one before the decade is out.

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