VW car sales fell almost 2% last year

VW said profits before tax slipped to 3.9bn euros (�2.68bn) in 2002, which was roughly in line with expectations.

The German car maker did not give a forecast for this year but said it aimed at selling more than five millions cars in 2003.

It sold 4.98 million cars last year, a 1.9% drop compared with 2001.

New models

Volkswagen is betting on its newly-launched Touran minivan to boost sales this year.

Critics say that VW's top-selling Golf and Passat models have started to look somewhat dated, while the car maker also faces strong competition from rivals like Renault.

In January, VW chief executive Bernd Pischetsrieder had said he was confident about earnings and sales this year.

But some analysts were frustrated with the absence of a further outlook on Wednesday, although VW has said it will give the market more details when it holds its annual press conference next month.

VW's rival PSA Peugeot pleased the market last week with an upbeat forecast.

VW shares, which have done better than most other automotive stocks, were down just 19 cents at 36.21 euros by 1500 GMT.

VW shares are up by 5% so far this year.

Meanwhile, VW's Czech unit Skoda Auto has said it expected to increase car sales this year, following a 3.2% drop in 2002.

"This year we expect that we should do 4 to 5% more than last year," Skoda chief executive Vratislav Kulhanek told an auto industry conference.

Car sales at the Czech car maker suffered from the strong Czech crown currency, which made imports cheaper but put a squeeze on export margins.