The Volkswagen-Group is in the third quarter because of the problems Porsche slipped deep into the red. The bottom line was that there was a loss of 1.072 billion euros between July and September, as the Wolfsburg-based car manufacturer announced. A year ago there was a surplus of 1.56 billion euros. Investors reacted nervously: after initial gains, the stock recently turned into losses.
In the first nine months, the surplus fell by more than 60 percent, from 8.8 to 3.4 billion euros. The primary culprit is burdens amounting to 7.5 billion euros, primarily due to increased tariffs, the adjustment of Porsche’s product strategy and write-downs on Porsche’s goodwill, said CFO Arno Antlitz (55), according to the statement. The adjustments and depreciation at Porsche alone would have burdened the group with 4.7 billion euros.
Of course, this also drags down the net cash flow. By 2024 this had already halved to 5 billion euros, and for 2025 Antlitz is forecasting a dangerously low value of around 0 billion euros. The CFO is therefore demanding 12 billion euros in additional cash flow from the corporate brands, as manager magazin reported about a week ago.
Combustion engine extension costs billions
Without these special effects, the profit margin would have been 5.4 percent, according to the manager. “That’s actually a decent value in the current economic environment.” The group was able to increase slightly in terms of sales and revenue: sales rose by 0.6 percent to 239 billion euros in the first nine months, and deliveries rose by 1.2 percent to 6.6 million vehicles.
Porsche already had it last week reported deep red numbers for the third quarter. The VW subsidiary is suffering from billions in costs for the latest strategy shift to extend the combustion engine. In the third quarter this led to a loss of almost one billion euros, and in the first nine months the result after taxes fell by almost 96 percent. This now also had an impact on the parent company.
VW brand is improving
The Volkswagen core brand, which had been weak for a long time, was able to improve further. The operating return on sales rose slightly to 2.3 percent in the nine months. Because of the austerity program with planned tens of thousands of job cuts at the core brand, things went a little better here.
At the end of 2024, after a long struggle, the company and the union agreed on a restructuring program for the core VW brand. More than 35,000 jobs are to be cut by 2030, almost a quarter of the 130,000 jobs in Germany.
Sales figures are increasing – including for electric cars
The group has recently been able to increase sales again. In the third quarter, 2.2 million vehicles from all Group brands were delivered, one percent more than a year earlier, as the Group announced almost three weeks ago. This was mainly due to strong growth in electric cars and strong numbers from the subsidiaries Škoda and Seat.
In North America, however, things went down China also. However, things went better again in Europe. Group-wide electric car sales rose by a third. They accounted for more than a tenth of all vehicles sold.
US tariffs and the e-ramp are a burden
The CFO estimates that the introduced US tariffs will cost the group up to five billion euros this year, on the one hand for direct customs payments and on the other hand because of fewer vehicles sold due to customs duties. And unlike the other special effects, the tariffs are likely to continue in the future. “A large part of the special charges mentioned are one-off and, from today’s perspective, will not be repeated,” said Antlitz. “But the customs burden will remain.”
Profits are also being slowed by the ramp-up of e-mobility. “We still earn significantly less with them than with combustion engines,” said Antlitz. “That puts pressure on margins.”
Chip supply also secured next week
Elsewhere, however, there was a small all-clear. Despite the currently stagnant supply of chips, there should be no production stops next week. As things stand today, production will also be secured at all German locations next week, the company said. This also applies to the subsidiaries Audi, Porsche and VW
However, it is not yet possible to estimate what will happen next. “However, given the dynamic situation, short-term effects on the Volkswagen Group’s production network cannot be fundamentally ruled out,” said the spokesman.
More on the topic
So far, the chip shortages have remained without the feared production stops. “The delivery bottleneck at the Dutch chip manufacturer Nexperia has so far had no impact on production in the Volkswagen Group’s German plants,” said the spokesman. This week, production took place as planned at all German locations. Because of the public holiday in Lower Saxony and Saxony, production there will be suspended on Friday.