By Kim Richters

Volkswagen AG on Friday posted a fall in aftertax profit and sales for 2020, but said it expects deliveries and sales to be higher this year.

The German car maker said aftertax profit came in at 8.82 billion euros ($10.74 billion), compared with EUR14.03 billion year-prior.

Operating profit for the period fell to EUR9.68 billion from EUR16.96 billion, while sales declined to EUR222.88 billion from EUR252.63 billion.

Analysts had expected sales of EUR222.35 billion, according to analysts' estimates recorded by FactSet.

Operating profit before special items--costs largely relating to the car maker's emissions-cheating scandal--came in at EUR10.61 billion.

For 2021, Volkswagen forecasts a noticeable increase in deliveries and a significant rise in sales year-on-year. It is aiming to hit the higher end of an operating return on sales range of between 5.0% and 6.5%.

"We intend to carry over the strong momentum from the significantly better second half into the current year, and the programs for reducing our fixed costs and in procurement will make us more robust in the long term," said Frank Witter, the company's finance chief.

Write to Kim Richters at kim.richters@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-26-21 0853ET