That’s non-GAAP. Google says VW 2018 profit was actually. €13.92 billion, on revenue of €235 billion.
Most of that difference was due to €3 billion in fines for lying about the level of toxic emissions of their Diesel engines.
Apparently they feel like that shouldn’t fully count against them in their annual report. [1] Maybe a company which has demonstrated it is willing to commit fraud to coverup its level of pollution shouldn’t be able to call the fines “one-time” charges, since the likelihood of recidivism is high.
VW shipped 10.8 million vehicles to Tesla’s 245k. So to be sure, Tesla is currently about 2% the size of VW.
And if sales halved? 2008 took out 2 of the big 3; which companies would a similar recession in 2020 take out? Tesla would be vulnerable, but far from alone.