HANOVER, Germany (Reuters) - Germany's Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> said it was bracing for a tough year, though the automaker trusts that its business may improve in the second half as overseas markets keep growing. "The coming months will be anything but easy," Chief executive Martin Winterkorn said at VW's annual shareholders' meeting on Thursday.

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest carmaker, said Wednesday its net profit skidded sharply lower in the first three months of the current year as a result of the "difficult market environment". VW said in a statement that its net profit slumped by 38.2 percent to 1.946 billion euros ($2.5 billion) in the period from January to March. Operating profit fell by 26 percent to 2.344 billion euros on a 1.6-percent decline in revenues to 46.565 billion euros. Customer deliveries, on the other hand, were up 4.8 percent at 2.314 million vehicles worldwide.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Volkswagen <VOWG_p.DE> will boost its global headcount to 600,000 by 2018 from 550,000 as part of its aim to become the world's biggest carmaker, works council chief Bernd Osterloh told a German newspaper. "Volkswagen is growing, and is therefore continuing to hire in production," daily Handelsblatt cited Osterloh as saying in an excerpt of an interview to be published on Tuesday.

The Geneva International Motor Show opens its doors Tuesday under a dark cloud, with no sign of a speedy rebound in sight for the troubled European market. The 83rd edition of the show will be reserved for the media on the first two days, but on Thursday the floodgates will open to the public. The event, which is considered one of the most important car shows of the year, will again be heavily marked by the crisis in Europe after an already catastrophic year in 2012. Last year, only 12 million new cars were sold in the European Union -- the lowest number since 1995.