“The coming months will be anything but easy,” Volkswagen CEO Martin Winterkorn told Reuters today at VW’s annual shareholders’ meeting. Nevertheless, he still plans to rule the world.

Except for North America and China, all other regions carry “often significant uncertainty” Winterkorn said. At home in Europe, the market  would be “extremely weak” for the foreseeable future, Volkswagen AG’s Vorstandsvorsitzender predicted.

Yesterday, Volkswagen reported a first-quarter operating profit 26 percent down to a still very respectable $3 billion. Undaunted, Volkswagen wants to match last year’s record earnings of 11.5 billion euros and set new delivery records.

“Regardless of whether we’re in an upturn or downturn, it’s our goal to ensure that VW reaches the top of the automotive industry by 2018,” Winterkorn said. We read that as the Strategie 2018 still being in place. A few months ago, works council chief Bernd Osterloh declared mission accomplished and said the company needs a new strategy.