Ladies and gentlemen, I hereby open the 64th Annual General Meeting of Volkswagen AG and assume the chairmanship of the meeting in accordance with the articles of association. I would like to welcome you, dear shareholders, shareholder representatives, the ladies and gentlemen of the media, and all the other members of the audience, also on behalf of my colleagues on the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management. The Annual General Meeting takes place on the premises of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft at Berliner Ring 2 in Wolfsburg, and will be held as a virtual Annual General Meeting within the meaning of the German Stock Corporation Act. In addition to myself, the Deputy Chairman of the Supervisory Board, Mr. Hofmann, and the entire Board of Management is here in person.
Like me, Mr. Hofmann will answer questions addressed to the Supervisory Board and represent me if I'm unable to continue chairing the meeting. Prime Minister Weil, as a member of the Supervisory Board, has sent his apologies. He is unable to attend today due to a commitment that cannot be postponed. The other members of the Supervisory Board will participate via video and audio transmission. The notary, Dr. Beddies, is present at the meeting, who will take the notarial minutes required by the German Stock Corporation Act and the company's proxies. Ladies and gentlemen, let's take another look back at fiscal 2023. The Volkswagen Group achieved robust results in the past year. These show that the group delivers reliably in a challenging environment. 2023 was a year of restructuring with the consistent implementation of the Top 10 program launched by the Board of Management.
The focus was on customer-oriented products and convincing design, as well as on strengthening the regions, particularly the activities in China and North America. Another key element was the comprehensive earnings programs, the implementation of which was launched. On behalf of the entire Supervisory Board, I would like to thank the Board of Management, the Works Council, the management, all employees of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and the employees of its affiliated companies for their work in 2023, and I would like to express our special appreciation. With great personal commitment and a high level of motivation, you all have made decisive contributions to ensuring that the Volkswagen Group was able to close the financial year successfully. We will go into more detail later on the strategic challenges we're facing and on how the committees work together to overcome them.
But first, please allow me to make the necessary formal statements for today's Annual General Meeting. The Annual General Meeting has been convened in accordance with the provisions of the articles of association. The convening of the Annual General Meeting was published in the Federal Gazette on April 15th, 2024. On the basis of the authorization resolved by the Annual General Meeting last year, with an approval rate of 99.7% of the share capital represented, the Board of Management has decided to invite shareholders this year to a virtual Annual General Meeting. Ladies and gentlemen, information and documents relating to this year's virtual Annual General Meeting can be found on our website in the Investors section, under the heading Annual General Meeting. Our shareholders can follow the entire Annual General Meeting via the shareholder portal. The public broadcast includes Dr.
Blume's speech and the report of the Supervisory Board. As usual, recordings of the Annual General Meeting are not permitted. Minutes will not be taken. The list of participants can be found in the shareholder portal. You can exercise your voting rights by electronic postal vote or by authorizing the proxies of the company or by third parties via the shareholder portal. Only ordinary shareholders and their proxies are entitled to vote in this meeting. You can also register your contributions via the shareholder portal. This function is already available to you. You will be invited to the technical check shortly after you have registered to speak. I must reserve the right to restrict the right to speak and ask questions, particularly in the event that a lawful conclusion of the Annual General Meeting cannot otherwise be guaranteed.
I hereby stipulate that the right to information within the meaning of Section 131(1) of the German Stock Corporation Act may only be exercised at the Annual General Meeting by means of video communication. Duly registered shareholders were also able to submit statements in text form prior to the Annual General Meeting. If you would like to register an objection to a resolution passed at today's Annual General Meeting, you can also do so via the shareholder portal. This function has been activated for you since the start of the Annual General Meeting and will remain active until the Annual General Meeting closes. You also have the opportunity to submit a complaint for the record via the shareholder portal, if, in your opinion, questions have not been answered or have answered, have been answered only inadequately. So much for the necessary information...
Ladies and gentlemen, since our last Annual General Meeting, deserving members and employees of the Volkswagen Group have passed away. Let us pause for a moment in honor of the deceased. I would now like to ask the members of the Board of Management to rise. Thank you very much. Ladies and gentlemen, I will now summarize the report of the Supervisory Board and discuss the changes to the Supervisory Board since the last Annual General Meeting, and the implementation of the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. Following my presentation, the Board of Management will give its report. Afterwards, we will have the general debate. At the end of the debate, the vote is taken. Ladies and gentlemen, let me start with the Supervisory Board report. Since the end of last year's Annual General Meeting, there have been two personnel changes on the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.
With effect as of May 31st, 2023, Miss Simone Mahler, Chair of the Joint Works Council of Volkswagen Financial Services AG and Volkswagen Bank GmbH, resigned from her office as a member of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. Ms. Mahler had been a member of the Supervisory Board as an employee representative since the May 12th, 2022. Ms. Karina Schnur, Chair of the General and Group Works Council of MAN Truck & Bus SE, was appointed by the court as her successor, with effect as of July 11th, 2023. With effect as of December 31st, 2023, Mr. Peter Mosch, Chair of the General Works Council of AUDI AG, resigned from his office as a member of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft.
Mr. Mosch had been a member of the Supervisory Board as an employee representative since January 18th, 2006 . Ms. Rita Beck, Deputy Chair of the General Works Council of AUDI AG, was appointed by the court as his successor, with effect as of January 19th, 2024 . I would like to take this opportunity to welcome the new Supervisory Board members once again, most cordially. On behalf of all members of the Supervisory Board, I would like to take this opportunity to once again thank the members who have left the Supervisory Board for the excellent cooperation. The term of office of the members of the Supervisory Board also ends at the end of today's Annual General Meeting, namely the members Dr. Hessa Sultan Al Jaber, Dr. Hans Michel Piëch, and Dr. Ferdinand Oliver Porsche.
As you have seen from the agenda, the Supervisory Board proposes to the annual general meeting that, with effect from the end of the annual general meeting today, Dr. Al Jaber, Dr. Piëch, and Dr. Porsche, each be re-elected to the Supervisory Board for a full term of office. After extensive deliberation, the Supervisory Board has decided to propose Dr. Piëch for re-election to the Supervisory Board, even though he has exceeded the standard age limit of 75 at the time of election, as stipulated in the rules of procedure for the Supervisory Board.
Dr. Piëch is indirectly one of the largest individual shareholders of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and also due to his many years of activity for numerous other Volkswagen Group companies, he has special experience and knowledge of the company's business areas, which the Supervisory Board is convinced he will continue to contribute in the interests and for the benefit of the company in the future. The Supervisory Board adheres to the standard age limit for Supervisory Board members. For reasons of legal caution, the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management have nevertheless declared a precautionary deviation from the recommendation of the German Corporate Governance Code to set an age limit for Supervisory Board members. The CVs of Dr. Al Jaber, Dr. Piëch, and Dr. Porsche, as well as further information on the nominations, are attached to the agenda.
All three have already declared that they will accept their office if they are elected today. There has been a change in the composition of the Board of Management since the end of last year's annual general meeting. With effect as of September 1st, 2023, the Supervisory Board appointed Gernot Döllner as a member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft. Gernot Döllner took over the Brand Group Progressive division as a successor of Mr. Markus Duesmann, who left the Board of Management by mutual agreement at the end of August 31st, 2023.... So much for the personnel details on the Supervisory Board and the Board of Management.
Ladies and gentlemen, in fiscal 2023, the focus of the work of the Supervisory Board and its committees was on the strategic direction of the Volkswagen Group, in particular, on the China strategy and the transformation. In the reporting year, the Supervisory Board regularly dealt with the situation and the development of the company. In accordance with the tasks incumbent upon us under the law, the articles of association, and the rules of procedure, we monitored and supported the Board of Management in their management of the company and advised them on issues relating to corporate management, in particular, on sustainability issues. The Supervisory Board was directly involved in all decisions of fundamental importance to the group. We also discussed strategic considerations with the Board of Management on a regular basis.
The Board of Management complied with its duties to provide information, which is specified in the information regulations adopted by the Supervisory Board. It informed us regularly, promptly, and comprehensively, both in writing and verbally, in particular, on all issues of strategy, business development, planning, and the company's situation that was relevant to the company. This also included the risk situation and risk management. In this respect, the Board of Management also provided information on further improvements to the internal control system, as well as the risk and compliance management system. The Supervisory Board also received ongoing information from the Board of Management on compliance and other current topics. Documents relevant to the decision-making reached us in good time before the meetings. We also received a detailed report from the Board of Management on the current business situation and the forecast for the current year on fixed dates.
In the event of deviations in business performance from the established plans and targets, the Board of Management provided us with detailed explanations in written or in verbal form. Together with the Board of Management, we analyzed the causes of the deviations and derived countermeasures. The Board of Management also reported on the situation regarding the Russia-Ukraine conflict and discussed appropriate measures with the Supervisory Board. I met regularly with the chairman of the Board of Management to discuss important current issues. These included, among others, the group's strategy, planning, business development, the risk situation, and risk management, including issues relating to the Volkswagen Group's integrity and compliance. However, the Supervisory Board not only worked very closely with the Board of Management, but also engaged in a dialogue with our stakeholders.
I, myself, held regular meetings with investors on topics specific to the Supervisory Board and in consultation with the Board of Management, also on topics not specific to the Supervisory Board. One focus of the discussions was on corporate governance topics and questions from the area of ESG. I subsequently informed the Supervisory Board about discussions with investors. The Supervisory Board held a total of eight meetings in the 2023 financial year. Six of these meetings were held in person, and two were held as a video or telephone conference. For all meetings in the financial year and for all members of the Supervisory Board in office, the calculated attendance rate was at 92%.
Members of the Supervisory Board who did not attend a meeting were able to deal with the matters discussed at the meeting on the basis of the preparatory documents, and generally participated in the resolutions by submitting written votes. Particularly, urgent matters were decided in writing or using electronic means of communication. On page 13 of the annual report, you will find an overview of the individual participation of the members of the Supervisory Board. The Executive Committee of the Supervisory Board held 12 meetings in the reporting year. The Nomination Committee held one meeting. The Audit Committee met four times. The Mediation Committee did not have to be convened in 2023.
A detailed presentation of the topics discussed at the meetings of the Supervisory Board and its committees can be found in the report of the Supervisory Board on the pages 11 through to 13 of the annual report. Ladies and gentlemen, on November 17th, 2023, the Board of Management and the Supervisory Board issued the annual declaration in accordance with Section 161 of the German Stock Corporation Act on the recommendations of the German Corporate Governance Code. The declaration of compliance was supplemented by a declaration dated March 1st, 2024, and April 9th, 2024. The declaration of compliance and its amendments are available on our website in the Investors section under the heading Corporate Governance. Explanations of all deviations from the recommendations can be found there....
Further details on the implementation of the recommendations and suggestions of the German Corporate Governance Code can be found in the corporate governance chapter from page 40, and in the notes to the consolidated financial statement, statements on page 441 of the annual report. In 2020, the audit committee agreed to a suitable procedure with the Board of Management for the ongoing monitoring of related party transactions of the Volkswagen Group. In the reporting year, there was no case in which the regulations on related party transactions gave rise to a reservation of consent and a disclosure obligation. The report on relationships with affiliated companies, submitted by the Board of Management, was examined by the auditor, EY.
The Supervisory Board also examined this report and declared that, based on the final results of its examination, it had no objections to the declaration of the Board of Management at the end of the dependent company report. The Supervisory Board has also commissioned EY to conduct an external review of the content of the summarized, separate, non-financial report for 2023. The aim of the report is, in particular, to increase transparency regarding the environmental and social aspects of companies in the EU. The Supervisory Board had no objection following its independent review of the summarized, separate, non-financial report 2023, which was conducted in consideration of EY's findings. We also decided to prepare the remuneration report for the 2023 financial year, together with the Board of Management.
In addition to the statutory audit of the completeness, EY also reviewed the content of the remuneration report and issued an unqualified audit opinion. So much for my oral report. I would also like to draw your attention to the written report of the Supervisory Board, which you will find from page 10 onwards in the annual report. Ladies and gentlemen, let me then turn to the proposed adjustment of the remuneration system for members of the Board of Management. In line with the interests of the capital market, the Supervisory Board has decided to take the financial performance indicator, net cash flow in the automotive division, into account in the remuneration of the members of the Board of Management.
To this end, the previous financial performance target, operating profit of the Volkswagen Group, including Chinese joint ventures, pro rata, will be replaced by the financial performance target, net cash flow in the automotive division, in the annual bonus for the members of the Board of Management. Net cash flow in the automotive division is a key performance indicator that serves as a benchmark for profitability, investment, and dividend capacity, in particular, and is therefore highly relevant for the capital market. According to the existing remuneration system, one of the criteria used in the annual bonus as part of the ESG factor for the social sub-target, the criterion of the Stimmungsbarometer, the opinion barometer, is used. The opinion barometer measures the mood and the opinion of the workforce using a so-called Stimmungsbarometer, mood or opinion barometer. This method for determining the mood is to be changed.
Up until a new method for determining the mood and opinion situation has been introduced, this criterion, the opinion barometer, is to be suspended. The remuneration system should therefore also be adjusted to allow for such a suspension. For the 2024 annual bonus, the Supervisory Board still based the opinion barometer, and used the opinion barometer as a set specific, set specific target values for it. If the annual general meeting approves of the adjusted remuneration system, the opinion barometer criterion within the social sub-target is expected to be suspended for, 2024 and 2025 fiscals, and as a result, the, diversity index criterion will be weighted at 100%. Further details can also be found in the supplement to the declaration of compliance, dated April 9th, 2024. Thank you for your attention up to this point.
I would now like to ask Dr. Blume to present the report of the Board of Management. Dr. Blume, please.
For generations, the Volkswagen Group has enriched the world with iconic mobility. Icons are the accelerators of change, inspired by art, music, architecture and science. Our unique brands create influential products that shape the way we think about mobility and the way we live our lives. Products with innovative technology and captivating design, becoming icons in their own right, role models in a world of change.... Icons that bridge the past, present, and future. The Volkswagen Group is a driver of change, of consistent, sustainable transformation, with a clear strategy and a passionate team. With innovative platforms and products, we are facing up to the challenges, because every era reshapes its own icons.
Dear shareholders, dear members of the Supervisory Board, dear colleagues, welcome to the Annual General Meeting of Volkswagen AG in 2024. It is an honor for me to welcome you today to this virtual Annual General Meeting, and it is a pleasure to have this opportunity to provide you with an overall picture of our company in the next minutes. The key ambition for the mobility of the future is to play a role, a role in the life of our customers, and the foundation for that is inspiring contemporary products and robust financial results. In the biggest transformation of the car industry, the Volkswagen Group operates from a position of strength. In 2023, we launched numerous new products, and we celebrated highlights that have thrilled fans all over the world.
The new Volkswagen Tiguan, the ID. Buzz, the Bentley Bentayga, the Porsche 911 Dakar, the VW ID.7, the Cupra DarkRebel show car, or the Lamborghini Revuelto are just a few examples. 2023 was a demanding year, but the Volkswagen Group has successfully proved its substance and its robustness. At 9.2 million vehicles, the deliveries were 12% higher than in the previous year, and all world regions contributed to this growth, and that was particularly strong in Europe and in North America. Deliveries also grew in China, despite a very challenging market environment. This growth is also reflected in our sales revenue. The year-on-year rise compared to the 2023 figures was 15%. Operating profit was at EUR 22.6 billion.
Net cash flow amounted to EUR 10.7 billion, and the profit after tax ran at EUR 17.9 billion. In a quantitative comparison of our key financial performance indicators, we see the following picture. In absolute terms, our reported operating profit for 2023 is slightly up on the figure of the year before. Before valuation effects that chiefly come from commodity derivatives in both years, and here comes my real message, the operating profit in 2023 saw a double-digit growth that was driven by a solid order bank, stabilized supply chains, an improved product mix, and optimized pricing. But also the restructuring efforts and our performance programs are already gaining traction. We have a double-digit growth in the profit after tax, and that underpins this solid result.
Thanks to a more rigorous working capital management, we have been in a position to more than double the net cash flow. So the Volkswagen Group is delivering, also in face of difficult conditions and volatile markets. So this is a solid foundation. At the same time, we're aware of the areas that need improvement, and we're systematically addressing them in order to leverage the enormous potential of the Volkswagen Group. And it is important to us that our shareholders can also participate in this result. The Board of Management and the Supervisory Board therefore propose a dividend of EUR 9 per ordinary share and EUR 9.06 per preferred share. Our Top 10 program is our key management tool for everything we do. We use it also to structure our operational and strategic priorities and tasks.
It has clear, it has measurable goals, clear responsibilities, and a systematic roadmap for implementation. 2023 was the year when we restructured the Volkswagen Group. All of the goals we had set ourselves were met, thanks to a tight-knit agenda. Some of these goals were achieved faster than originally planned, and it is clear that speed is particularly important in the transformation of the automotive industry. We're making good progress. It's visible, it's measurable, day by day, meter by meter. When it comes to our current planning round, we're focusing on clear premises and the strategic orientation of our company. We are basing this planning on a strategy for investments, a revised product strategy, also realistic unit sales volumes for the vehicle allocation at our plants, and the performance programs for all of our brands.
And during our planning period, this approach and also those guardrails set will lead to significant improvements in profit, margin, cash flow, and the investment level. And we want to make the Volkswagen Group and its brands fit for the future. And to that effect, last year, we launched ambitious performance programs. We have agreed specific return targets for each brand, and they will then also result in a strategic return on sales of the entire Volkswagen Group of between 9% and 11%.... And, as I'm sure you know me from other projects, I set ambitious goals, and I aim for double-digit returns. And now we're working with the same methodology in all the brands, with full transparency and measurability.
The goal here, clearly, is to increase our earnings, to address costs in all areas of the company, and also we want to tap and need to tap additional revenue streams. One of the main reasons that inspires our customers to buy our products is the design of the products. We're working methodically with design identities for our brands, identities also for product differentiation and for regional design requirements, and we have systematically launched individual design programs for all brands. Our customers place the highest demands on the quality of our products, and that is true for us as well, for our ambition. We look at quality at every link in the chain, from vehicle concept, from materials, finish, through to software and connectivity, then to the vehicle handover, vehicle reliability, in-service reliability. All of those are decisive criteria for the customer appeal of our products.
For all brands, we now have programs in place that come with measurable quality indicators. China remains the world's largest single market. 2023 was a successful year for the Volkswagen Group in that country. We maintained our market leadership in this dynamic market environment, and our brands have put on a strong performance. We grew our total deliveries to 3.2 million vehicles, and when it comes to the share of battery electric vehicles, they increased by 23%. For Audi, 2023 was a record year for deliveries in China. We have developed a China 2030 target for the strategy outlook of the Volkswagen Group. Now, that means we are focusing more on local, China-specific developments. We focus on speed, greater regionalization, and new strong partnerships. North America also offers significant growth potential for the Volkswagen Group brands.
The revival of the iconic Scout brand is particularly promising. We believe this provides us an opportunity to lay the groundwork for an electric brand, for rugged SUVs and pickups in the largest and most profitable U.S. segment. We are convinced, that, our locations in the U.S., Mexico, and Canada are very attractive for the Volkswagen Group. Construction work has already begun for the new Scout factory in South Carolina, and also, our battery cell factory in Ontario are in good shape already when it comes to construction work. They're highlighting our ambitions. Realigning our software company, CARIAD, has top priority and had it also in 2023. We have a new leadership team in place now, headed by CEO Peter Bosch, and we're driving its restructuring forward.
There's a systematic 5-point plan in place that is redesigning processes, organizations, tools, management models, and our partnerships. An important factor is the deliverability of our E³ 1.2 platform. Two important models, the Audi Q6 e-tron and the Porsche Macan, are getting ready for their market debut, and both vehicles already have been positively reviewed by the media. High performance and standardized vehicle platforms have always been a strength of the Volkswagen Group, so we want to build on this, and we've realigned our architecture strategy and defined clear development responsibilities. We're now arranging our architectures according to performance and functionality segments. Volkswagen, Audi, and Porsche have key roles to play in this context. All group brands access the relevant development capabilities based on their own positioning.
What that means is we achieve economies of scale, improve our development efficiency, because we're focusing our brands, and at the same time, we're tapping the group synergies. The battery is and will be the heart of the mobility of tomorrow. We have pooled our group's in-house battery cell development and manufacturing activities in PowerCo. Our three battery cell factories are progressing as planned. Construction and commissioning of the first lines in Salzgitter has already begun. In Valencia, Spain, and St. Thomas, Canada, groundwork has also been completed. But there can be no e-mobility without a charging infrastructure, so that is why we are proactively committed to expanding this infrastructure. Today, our Elli network already provides access to over 650,000 charging points in Europe, and the number of charging points in 2023 grew by 44%.
In terms of high-performance charging stations, that number is actually much higher, namely, stands at 118%. When it comes to mobility solutions, we have rearranged our map of offerings and partners. A key milestone here was the start of our integrated development platform, a mobility platform. At the same time, the integration of Europcar into the Volkswagen Group unlocks significant potential, and we're also now picking up speed when it comes to autonomous driving. We've made good progress with the autonomous ID. Buzz in the pilot cities of Munich, Hamburg, and Austin, Texas.
[Foreign language]
In the Volkswagen Group, sustainability is our bedrock for responsible action, and our brands have already achieved a great deal.
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I would like to present a few examples, from now over 800 individual initiatives in the Volkswagen Group.
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Since 2018, we have reduced our absolute carbon emissions from our own production facilities by 34%.
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Today, the electricity we purchase for our plants in Europe is already 100% green power.
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In 2023 alone, we have invested more than 14 million hours in the professional development and training of our workforce. The new ID. Buzz contains approximately 25% recycled materials, and in 2023, our donations in the field of social engagement and corporate citizenship came to more than EUR 85 million.
[Foreign language]
The Volkswagen Group's new leadership team promised to align more closely with the needs of the capital market.
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For us, investors are both stakeholders and strategic sparring partners. The exchange and engagement with them is very important to us, and that is also why we organized a Capital Markets Day of the Volkswagen Group in the summer of 2023, which will mark the start of a series of investor events.
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The feedback and the stimuli we've received from this dialogue are the foundation for the action fields that we've defined for our interaction on the capital market. There are just a few examples here. We have realigned and also significantly strengthened our own management team.
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For Volkswagen and Audi, we've defined targets, with a very clear plan for the implementation in China.
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We have set up a strategic program, and we're gaining speed now with our local partners.
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In North America, we are now focusing on stronger localization of development and production, which will then also be the foundation to tap into further market potential.
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Ambitious, brand-focused performance programs are an important contribution to financial robustness.
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By the end of 2024, our objective is to generate over EUR 10 billion across the group as a contribution, also to offset negative effects.
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After that, the annual contributions will continually increase.
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Our capital allocation is oriented to global profit pools and strategic, technology developments and investments. The total investment in the upcoming planning round of EUR 180 billion over a five-year period will be incrementally reduced to EUR 170 billion, and further reductions will then also follow in subsequent years.
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Management remuneration has been linked to target components, such as the brand performance and the brand group performance, the Net cash flow, and also a personal performance bonus.
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Those robust financial results also show that there is good potential in the group and shareholders. Employees, they will also participate appropriately in the group's success. We've made significant progress, and now in 2024, we will systematically work to increase our market capitalization. Our efforts are not just going to be short-lived or temporary, but rather, we are focusing on sustained medium and long-term development.
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In the past year, we've achieved a great deal, and those achievements were only possible with a truly exceptional team, and 2023 was a sprint for the 680,000+ employees all over the world.
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Because they are passionate about our company. They make this Volkswagen Group what it is, and that is also why I would like to thank you.
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Thank you to everyone who have been making this possible, and I'm saying that on behalf of the entire Board of Management.
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These are solid results, and they provide us with a tailwind, a tailwind that we truly need, because 2024 is a particularly challenging year.
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It is challenging for the group and for our brands, for each and every one of us.
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It is in times like these where one thing is more important than ever, namely, to have a strong team.
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So we need the right people in the right positions, the right strategy, the right tactics.
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We need a single-minded attitude focused on winning.
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As the Group Board of Management and the extended Executive Committee, it falls precisely to us, in particular, to set a good example, to take responsibility, to give orientation, be reliable in our actions, and work in a spirit of trust. That is our ambition, and that is our obligation.
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The Top 10 program for 2024 is clear. It is simple, it is explicit, it makes it efficient, and all the brands in the Volkswagen Group are now following this logic with their specific areas.
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That program then also gives us the ability to be clear and to precisely govern the company in all units.
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So now that we've completed that important work for putting our house in order, we can also turn our attention to our longer-term goals. This year, we're laying the foundation for our new group strategy, 2035.
[Foreign language]
...It will be the North Star of our directions in the coming decade. Our 10 top 10 programs are closely linked to this forward-focused orientation. There are also our short- and medium-term stages for implementing our sustainability strategies, and that is a methodology that allows us to flexibly respond to changing conditions without ever losing track, losing sight of our overriding goal. Now, when it comes to our new products, 2024 will truly become a record year. We're currently preparing for our biggest product push in the history of the Volkswagen Group. We're talking about more than 30 new models across all brands that we are planning to debut this year. Our product offering combines efficient internal combustion engine models, modern plug-in hybrids, and all-electric battery vehicles.
So we believe that e-mobility is the future of the automotive industry, and the bigger part of our investments go into that. But at the same time, during this transformation phase, we're also focusing on a flexible product portfolio, so we can cater to the different market requirements around the world. The Volkswagen Group focuses on value added. It's not value and volume at all cost. Quite on the contrary, we're focusing on value-over-volume growth that is value adding with people, with our customers, being in the center of everything we do. Now, with that, let me have a look at our expected performance for 2024. For the overall year, we expect a slight increase in deliveries to customers. Overall, we are optimistic. We're optimistic that we will be able to maintain our strong positions in the global regions.
Our financial outlook also reflects this. We expect a sales revenue growth of up to 5% and an operating profit margin before special items of between 7%-7.5%. Our target range for the reported net cash flow in the automotive division is between EUR 4.5 billion-EUR 6.5 billion, and we expect a net liquidity in the automotive division of between EUR 39 billion-EUR 41 billion. Our performance programs are key drivers for the profitability and the strength of our brands in the Volkswagen Group. Our group is about diversity more than anything. We're not only solid in our passenger car business. Traton in Europe is one of the most successful truck makers.
At the stock market, Traton, in the past couple of months, has developed very positively, with a share price increase of more than 50% since the beginning of the year. So Traton has propelled itself to the top of this sector. However, the small share of public ownership of shares remains an obstacle, so we want to increase that level in order to make that share more interesting for retail investors to buy. And that would allow Traton to move to leading index indices like the MDAX. As we communicated at the IPO, we are planning a share of 75% plus one share in the medium term in terms of our own stakeholding, because we want to be and remain a reliable investor with Traton. The Volkswagen Group thinks globally, but it acts regionally.
To develop and produce products for our customers worldwide is a core element of our strategy. Europe is our home, and it's the core region for the Volkswagen Group. It is here that we want to consolidate our strong market position. We are building our products in 32 factories in Western and Central Europe and in Eastern Europe. In total, we employ more than 490,000 people in Europe. So the Volkswagen Group is committed to Europe as a manufacturing location. Our continent is and remains an appealing market, and it's also for that reason that the latest decision to grow our product portfolio in Europe has been taken exactly along those lines. The Volkswagen Group will be ready to come up with an electric vehicle in the pricing regions around EUR 20,000 in the second half of this decade.
So we deliver against our promise to make affordable mobility available for generations to come. And this car is also an expression of our brand identity, a genuine Volkswagen. From Europe, for Europe. So we're developing this car as our own Volkswagen Group-based product. We can benefit from economies of scale and a high degree of localization, and also tap the technological progress of the MEB platform. The EUR 20,000 Volkswagen will come at an appealing price and will be setting the benchmark in terms of design, quality, trim, and technology. And we're also going to demonstrate that Volkswagen can develop quickly, effectively and efficiently with Europe speed. Now, what's important is that the ramp-up of electric mobility is supported by all stakeholders, also by policymakers.
This is why we need a clear position, a clear commitment to electric mobility, realism when it comes to carbon emission targets, planning certainty for industry in the process of legislation and regulation, and a single-minded extension of charging infrastructure, appropriate electricity prices with a sustainable energy mix, and intelligent subsidy models to accelerate this ramp-up, and well-considered guardrails that will strengthen German and European industry in their home market. Now, in terms of China, our goal is to systematically implement our 20-30 target. We act in China for China. We accelerate the electrification, but we also use our strong position in internal combustion engine models, and that is how we also will be in a position to retain our financial strength for the transformation. We want to be the strongest international car maker in China.
We want to be, and want to be in the future also, one of the three top automakers in China. We have a plan for that in place. We're working with a strong team for the Chinese market to ensure precisely that. Now, for the first time, the Volkswagen Group hosted its first Capital Markets Day in China for Chinese and international investors this year. Now, that was an event that took place in April, on the eve of the Beijing Auto Show. Local development competences know-how are vital for market success. We set up the Volkswagen China Technology Company, and that was a decisive step, in that direction. By the end of this year, there will be more than 3,000 technology and software experts working for us out of Hefei, China. So China Speed is our ambition.
We want to shorten development times by some 30%. With our Chinese tech partnerships, we are integrating ourselves in the Chinese ecosystem. We will be in a position to implement innovations faster. We're aligning ourselves even closer with the expectations of our Chinese customers. Our cooperation with XPENG is a good example. Together, we are now developing two fully connected electric vehicles for the mid-size segment, and this allows us to close a gap in our own product portfolio. The market launch is already scheduled for 2026, and we're learning a great deal from one another. The enormous speed of that project is truly impressive. We really are now experiencing how Volkswagen can act with what we call China Speed, and Audi also is stepping up the pace of electrification.
The partnership with the long-standing joint venture partner, SAIC, has been expanded, and the aim here clearly is to develop progressive electric vehicle with state-of-the-art software. The first model there is to be rolled out on the Chinese market in 2025. So the overriding requirement for us is that all of the products we can manufacture locally in cooperation with our partners, at cost parity with the local competitors. In China alone, we're planning to launch more than 40 new models over the next three years, half of which will be what is called NEVs. These are new energy vehicles. Just a few weeks ago, at our Group Media Night in Beijing, we premiered the local models that we're now planning to debut on the world's largest auto market. Now, the result is an impressive show, but see for yourselves.
In North America, we see great market opportunities and really significant growth potential. We want to tap this potential, and this is why we are going to be very flexible with a broad product portfolio in addition to electrification, we also continue to work on the hybridization of our product range. But in the future as well, we will be seeing electric vehicles. The long-wheelbase ID. Buzz will be a new adapted vehicle for the American market, which is truly iconic, has the potential to be yet another iconic. And Scout, this year, will come up with its first vehicle prototype. And when it comes to the infrastructure, we want to make our own inimitable contribution in North America.
By the end of the year, with our Electrify America network, 5,000 fast charging stations will be available, all of them operated with electricity from renewable sources. Our software activities will be a central focal point in the coming year as well. Software is a core element of the customer experience. Scaling platforms is a competence of the Volkswagen Group, and we want to use this strength also for our software and electronics architecture. Software can become a genuine competitive advantage for the entire group and for the individual brands. The technology fields have now been defined, and from now on, we're concentrating on the implementation. To have a strong team is very important, and I'm delighted that we have now long-standing experience united in our new team there.
Now, take, for instance, Sanjay Lal at CARIAD, Sajjad Khan at Porsche, and Frank Han at CARIAD China, and Eric Sun, Lei Zhang for the CARIAD Inc. Now, software is no longer just a project title. We are delivering in terms of software. We are positioning ourselves at the top of the competitive landscape. Our customers are already benefiting from attractive functions. Now, take one example, the ID.7. With the ID.7, Volkswagen has taken its electric models to an entirely new level, and that also refers to the software experience. We're the first car maker in the global volume segment to offer ChatGPT in our vehicles, and we're currently making this feature available in all other group products that are sitting on the MEB platform with our software architecture, E³ 1.1.
It was just recently that the ID.7 was the first-ever vehicle to receive the top score in the German ADAC vehicle test, where with an average rating of 1.5, with a very good rating. Also, the PPE platform, with a 1.2 software version, will inspire our customers all over the world from this year on. The infotainment system of the new Porsche Macan speaks for itself. For instance, it offers a seamless integration of Apple CarPlay and a high-speed navigation system with innovative charging planning. Charging stops are planned depending on the battery status, depending also on the driving speed and the availability of fast-charging stations. Or we also offer realistic augmented reality head-up display. Now, these are features with which the vehicles coming from the Volkswagen Group are already matching or, in fact, surpassing the competition models, and they win numerous tests.
But in the future, we are going one step further. We are following the vision of the SDV, the software-defined vehicle. Vehicle development used to begin with the hardware in the past, but now this is changing. We're initiating a paradigm shift in our industry, because our development process now begins with the software. We're designing the vehicle from a mobile, digital, and smart world in mind, as our customers perceive it. Audi, Volkswagen, and CARIAD are currently developing this SDV architecture for their first specific projects. And in addition to software, battery development also is a key part of our technology strategy. Developing the Unified Cell is crucial in this regard. By 2030, it will be used in 80% of the group's electric vehicles. This battery will be a benchmark in terms of performance, flexibility, and cost efficiency.
We're also constantly developing the cell chemistry further. We're focusing on a cell format with flexible chemistry, which also allows us to flexibly respond to changes as markets and market needs may change. The pre-series production begins this year in Salzgitter. But we're also actively supporting the expansion of the charging infrastructure. In 2025, we'll be offering more than 40,000 fast-charging points in Europe, China, and the USA. But also, we're looking at further opportunities, because electric vehicles in the longer term could be a smart form of energy storage. So we're already now offering the bidirectional charging concept in our vehicles. Elli is to be developed into a holistic energy provider. Thanks to our close-knit cooperation between Volkswagen Financial Services and Europcar, we're currently also building up our group-wide mobility platform.
This mobility platform will include both the traditional leasing and the financing of vehicles, but also sharing products. So for every mobility needs, for just a few minutes or years, everything will be controlled via one central application. Our strategic activities for autonomous driving are also playing an important role. Autonomous driving is no longer exotic. We are testing the ID. Buzz with an autonomous system. This has been very successful. In the future, we want to integrate this function into MOIA and its service and its mobility platform. The Volkswagen Group is also responsible to make sure that we can shape sustainable mobility for generations to come. So it spans the four dimensions of sustainability: our nature, our workforce, our society, and also the entrepreneurship. And this is what we call regenerate+ , which is the group's new sustainability strategy.
It is one of the important pillars of our overarching, of our horizontal group strategy. We're focusing here on a strategic, on a systematic approach that comes with clear goals, clear operational goals, with clear-cut responsibilities for the Volkswagen Group and for our brands. Our goal of carbon zero has been focused and brought forward to 2040. By 2040, our plan is to reduce our carbon footprint and make sure that 40% of our products contain recycling products. Moreover, we want to set up a Biodiversity Fund that will get up to EUR 25 million per year, beginning in 2025. The Volkswagen Group has a great responsibility towards society, to the environment, to partners, and overall, we will intensify our commitment to projects with a positive effect in the field of social engagement.
From 2025 onwards, we will launch a Sustainability Impact Fund with a further 20 million EUR per year. When it comes to the financing of our own activities, sustainability is important as well. By 2030, at least 30% of the Volkswagen Group's outstanding bond volume will be financed via green bonds. Ladies and gentlemen, the Volkswagen Group faces major challenges, economic challenges, political challenges, technological and social ones, both externally and internally. But we have great opportunities to succeed in this very demanding environment. The Volkswagen Group has immense potential. In 2023, we have completed the most important tasks to put our house in order, and we have laid the key foundations to restructure the Volkswagen Group. For 2024 as well, we've set clear guardrails, clear priorities, with our Top 10 program.
We'll do the right things, and we're going to do them the right way. Just ahead of us is the year with the biggest product push in the history of this group. More than 30 models will be debuting this year, so 2024, in technical and in economic terms, will be a challenging year in our group for all of our brands. But we're confidently looking ahead into the future because we're already now laying the groundwork for a swifter business development from 2025. We stand up for our society, for our company, for our team, and our environment. The Volkswagen Group delivers. We are dependable and sustainable. Volkswagen takes responsibility and has been for decades, for decades to come. Thank you very much for your attention.