Lidl holding company Schwarz Group hopes to make €100bn (£72bn) in sales per year within the next five years by increasing sales by more than a quarter.

Schwarz currently has group sales of €79.3bn (£56.9bn) and hopes to add over €20bn (£14.3bn) of sales through an aggressive expansion of Lidl and a restructuring of its Kaufland hypermarket, according to German publications Manager Magazin and Lebensmittel Zeitung.

Schwarz chief executive Klaus Gehrig believes the changes will result in a cultural change at the company.

Gehrig intends to transition all his responsibilities to the rest of the board by the time he turns 70 in 2018.

As part of the changes, Schwarz is seeking to find more synergies between the Lidl and Kaufland fasciae.

However, the buying structure will be the exception because of the different positionings of each banner.

The retailer is to invest “billions” in expansion and modernisation of Lidl stores and will prioritise stores sized 10,700 sq ft.

Lidl will approach US expansion “gradually” when it enters the market in 2018 with a mid-double-digit number of stores.

Kaufland will focus on streamlining its range, cost reductions and a renewed focus on key values as it seeks to establish itself as a big-box discounter.