Premise: Earnings before interest and tax jumped to 4.55 billion euros ($5.34 billion) from 1.90 billion a year earlier, VW said in a statement on Thursday. "I am firmly convinced that our financial footing is adequate to cope with the transformation in the automotive industry and topics of the future," finance chief Frank Witter said in the statement.
Hypothesis: VW wants to be part of the transformation in the automotive industry.