Mammoth German carmaker Volkswagen massively expanded yesterday its plans for electric car sales in the coming decade, as its scramble to meet tougher greenhouse emissions targets has already begun weighing on profitability.

Higher unit sales and increased revenues in 2018 helped VW to a net profit 6.0 per cent higher, at 12.15 billion euros ($13.7 billion), the group said.

But profit margins were squeezed as the group with its 12 brands struggled with new EU emissions tests — introduced following its “dieselgate” emissions cheating scandal broke in 2015 — and massive investments in the switch to electric.

The costs did not put bosses off doubling down on their battery-powered ambitions, saying they now plan 70 new electric models by 2028 rather than 50 and lifting sales targets by seven million, to 22 million vehicles by the same date.

In 2018, “pressure on our profit margins grew, not least because of electric mobility,” Volkswagen finance chief Frank Witter told business daily Handelsblatt.