VEHICLE CONTROL DEVICE AND VEHICLE CONTROL METHOD

A vehicle control device for controlling a vehicle with an engine includes a target engine output calculation unit configured to calculate a target engine output based on a target drive force, a vehicle speed and an air density, and a target engine torque calculation unit configured to calculate a target engine torque based on the target engine output and the air density. The target engine output calculation unit is configured to set a smaller target engine output when the air density is low than when the air density is high, and the target engine torque calculation unit is configured to set a larger target engine torque when the air density is low than when the air density is high.