€51.6 billion, or about US$71 billion at today's exchange rates, is a lot of money - equal to around 15% of Sweden's GDP, for example. Nevertheless, that's the amount of money that will be poured into the Volkswagen Group's automotive division for production capacity and vehicle development in the next five years. The goal, according to VW CEO Martin Winterkorn, is "to make Volkswagen the world's most future-proof automotive group".
The new budget will see €41.3 billion invested in property, factories and equipment with more than half of this amount (57%) finding its way into Germany. The remaining €10.3 billion consists of additions to capitalized development costs.
