Volkswagen increased the operating result significantly in the second quarter thanks to decreasing delivery bottlenecks, but has become more cautious in its sales forecast due to the uncertain economy. The operating result increased by almost a quarter to 5.6 billion euros, the Wolfsburg-based group announced on Thursday. Sales climbed 15.2 percent to a good 80 billion euros. The Group delivered 2.3 million vehicles worldwide in the period from April to June, 18 percent more than in the same period last year.
In terms of sales, however, the management around CEO Oliver Blume (55) is now assuming a range of between nine and 9.5 million vehicles for the year as a whole instead of the 9.5 million units previously promised.
Volkswagen achieved a solid result in the first half of the year and took important steps to increase competitiveness, explained CFO Arno Antlitz (53). “We are now focused on improving net cash flow in the second half of the year,” he added.
Due to the ongoing bottlenecks in the supply chains, the inflow of funds was dampened in the first half of the year. The group continues to expect net cash flow of between six and eight billion euros in 2023 and has taken steps “to reach the lower end of the range,” it said. The group continues to expect an increase in sales of between 10 and 15 percent and an operating return of between 7.5 and 8.5 percent.
In an industry comparison, Volkswagen is cautious. Mercedes boss Ola Källenius (54) corrected his forecast for the current year upwards on Thursday. As recently, Volkswagen’s volume competitor Stellantis delivered significantly higher margins. In the second quarter, the group achieved an operating return of 14.4 percent with brands such as Peugeot, Opel and Fiat and intends to deliver similar figures for the year as a whole. Mary Barra (61), head of the US automaker General Motors, was also more confident than before after the first half of the year. She raised the company’s profit forecast from $8.4 billion to $9.9 billion to $9.3 billion to $10.7 billion.
had reacted negatively to the quarterly balance sheet before the market on Thursday. On Tradegate, the shares lost 1.3 percent to just under 122 euros compared to the Xetra close the previous day. They are likely to stay within the range of EUR 115 to 130 seen in the past few months, from which they only briefly broke out in June.
VW is losing market share in China
Volkswagen is currently fighting on several fronts: In its important market in China the Wolfsburg now want to catch up with the help of Chinese partners. In addition the main brand VW enters into a long-term cooperation with the car manufacturer Xpeng in the areas of electromobility, software and autonomous driving. The alliance through a nearly five percent stake, for which Volkswagen is paying 700 million dollars. The daughter Audi expands its cooperation with the Chinese joint venture partner SAIC. China board member Ralf Brandstätter (54) is reorganizing the business so that VW can be separated from competitors like BYD is not completely suspended. The aim is to bring new developments to market more quickly and to tailor cars more to the tastes of Chinese customers.
The well-being of the company depends on China. Experts estimate that with all the license fees and income that is not openly disclosed, China has often contributed well over half of the group’s profits. Most recently, however, only a good 3 billion euros flowed. The once mighty flow of capital is becoming more and more of a trickle
.
Volkswagen CEO Blume has set return targets for all brands in order to make the group weatherproof in the approaching economic downturn. VW and Audi complete fitness programs to reduce costs and increase profitability over the long term. VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer (53) had set the alarm bells ringing with his incendiary speech in Wolfsburg
, when he warned the brand’s future was at stake. The Group’s main brand aims to increase its operating return to 6.5 percent by 2026 and has launched a program of efficiency improvements and savings worth ten billion euros. In 2022, VW achieved a return of 3.6 percent.