FRANKFURT, Jan 16 (Reuters) - Volkswagen Chief Executive Herbert Diess said the German carmaker needs to accelerate its transformation to avoid becoming another Nokia , which lost its dominance in the handset market to Apple.

“The big questions is: are we fast enough?,” Diess told VW’s senior managers following a global board meeting on Thursday. “If we continue at our current speed, it is going to be very tough.”

The car was is longer a mode of transport and carmakers are no longer only manufacturers of vehicles, he said.

“The era of the classic carmakers is over,” Diess added. (Reporting by Edward Taylor; editing by Thomas Seythal)