Volkswagen Group sees a growth in sales

The Volkswagen Group maintained its trajectory in the first six months of fiscal year 2013, despite the challenging economic situation – particularly in Europe – and intense competition. Including China, deliveries increased by 5.4 percent to 4.8 million vehicles worldwide. The Group’s share of the passenger car market rose year-on-year to 12.7 percent (12.4 percent). “We made considerable progress following a subdued start to the year, and can report a solid result in what was a difficult market environment”, said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, in Wolfsburg on Wednesday. The Volkswagen Group also confirmed its outlook for full-year 2013.

CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch was guardedly confident, despite the fragile economic environment: “The global economic situation means that it is all the more important for us not to ease up on our efforts to make the Volkswagen Group even more robust and flexible. At the same time, we will further strengthen our solid financial position for the long-term in order to continue our global growth path and ensure that our strategy is implemented systematically.”

Worldwide unit sales by the Volkswagen Group rose by 4.9 percent year-on-year in the first half of the year to 4.9 million vehicles. The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand sold around 2.4 million cars in the first six months, 1.7 percent fewer than in the first half of 2012 (2.4 million). The brand’s operating profit was €1.5 billion (€2.3 billion), and was weighed down by a deterioration in volumes and mix, as well as upfront expenditures for new technologies. Unit sales by the Audi brand rose by 2.1 percent year-on-year to 692,000 vehicles (678,000); the FAW-Volkswagen Chinese joint venture sold a further 197,000 Audi vehicles. Audi reported an operating profit of €2.6 billion (€2.9 billion), despite higher upfront expenditures for new products, technologies and the expansion of global production structures.

ŠKODA’s sales declined by 11.1 percent to 362,000 vehicles (408,000). Negative volume, mix and exchange rate effects as well as launch costs for the new products saw its operating profit decline as against the first half of 2012 to €243 million (€449 million). Bentley delivered 4,200 vehicles (4,800). Its operating profit was on a level with the previous year at €58 million (€57 million). Sports car manufacturer Porsche sold 78,000 vehicles and generated an impressive operating profit of €1.3 billion in the first half of the year.

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