Volkswagen announces a decline in quarterly earnings, stating it must rush to match Chinese EV business competitors

May 5, 2023: German giant Volkswagen stated a drop in first-quarter profit on Thursday, saying weaker sales in China makes sure the need for the carmaker to shut the gap on its competitors in the country’s fast-increasing electric vehicle firm.

Volkswagen stated that operating profit decreased 31% to 5.7 billion euros ($6.3 billion) through the initial three months of 2023, from 8.3 billion euros during the same period in the previous year.

However, Europe’s biggest carmaker said operating profit before valuation effects from commodity hedging increased by 35% to 7.1 billion euros.

Volkswagen said that first-quarter sales revenue rose by 22% to 76 billion euros, primarily driven by a recovery in Europe and North American sales volumes.

“We had an encouraging start into the year 2023 indeed, with revenues and underlying operating profit improving hugely,” Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz stated on Thursday.

“As you remember, when we released our aims for 2023, they were quite, we got these reviews, but based on that excellent first quarter and related to an order backlog of 1.8 million vehicles in Europe, we are quite confident that we will get all our financial targets for 2023.”

Shares of Volkswagen were higher initially on Thursday. The stock price is up hit 5.5% year-to-date.

Volkswagen stated deliveries in China slipped 14.5% through the first three months of 2023. It remains confident sales will return through the remainder, citing an increased model range and China-specific technology.

Regarding the sliding first-quarter sales in China, Volkswagen’s answered Antlitz, “We had a slow beginning in China.”

He added it was essential to distinguish between China’s combustion engine business, where Volkswagen has long been a, and the country’s battery EV market, where it is willing to catch up with rivals, including Chinese EV company BYD.

“I just returned from Shanghai, I spent three days looking at competitor cars, which talks to the teams on the floor, and it’s obvious we must speed up, especially on the BEV side,” Antlitz said.

“I’m confident that we will also lay a major role in China in the future,” he added.

About Us

We provide the insights on leaders who are responsible for taking their organization to new heights, all the while bringing together a group of talented individuals.

Recent Posts

Tristar Coatings | Transforming The Painting Industry With Innovation | Svetlana Melkova

There are many challenges facing the painting and coating industry today, and the pandemic just added fuel to the fire. These include raw material shortages and the globalization of the painting and coating market. Other challenges include increasing regulations due to environmental concerns and increasing manufacturing costs and raw materials. Ontario-based Tristar Coatings has been able to leverage its extensive knowledge base and highly skilled chemists to provide the solutions today’s organizations need in the time they require it most. In overarching terms, customer performance requirements can mean increasing product output whilst streamlining the process in which that product is manufactured. This can come in the form of preparing the substrate before the painting process (whether that be with physical or chemical cleaning) or actual product modifications to prevent or promote certain properties in the coating (such as adhesion, corrosion protection, film build, UV resistance, etc.), but Tristar has it all.

The Lake Companies | Making Manufacturing Easier…Forever! | Greg Lake

The Lake Companies knows that to achieve best practices, specific daily business processes must happen and be done as simply as possible, even without human effort. “That’s how we develop our ERP software products. We strive to completely transform internal business processes and revolutionize the user experience with our software,” says Greg Lake, President of The Lake Companies. “Building the support for best practices in our software allows our customers to achieve far more than they anticipated, while paving the way for growth into advanced IoT and Industry 4.0 technologies. Our Simple, Elegant, and Powerful solutions are built specifically for and seamlessly integrate with Infor’s SyteLine®(CloudSuite®) ERP.”

Cyncly | Preparing Customers for the Future | Andrea Gnoato

Cyncly was created in September of 2022 as the new brand to unite Compusoft, 2020, and their affiliate companies after the two companies merged in 2021. One of the key factors driving the decision to form Cyncly as a global brand was that consumers worldwide wanted a seamless experience when they decided to improve their homes. And because Cyncly had brought together all these industry-leading software solutions – retailers, designers, and manufacturers in kitchens, bathrooms, furniture, windows, and doors – they were in a unique position to provide their customers with the tools to do this. By connecting all these previous disparate elements, they were able to help companies using our software make their consumers’ journeys seamless and put consumers at the heart of what they do.

ArtiFlex Manufacturing | A Leader In Engineered Solutions | Erin Hoffmann

ArtiFlex Manufacturing is a premier resource for design, tooling, prototyping, automation, past model service, factory assist, and low volume tooling/production solutions. The team consists of passionate high-performance people organized in a lean fashion. The company partners with their customers to implement innovative tooling and manufacturing solutions while managing their complex programs.

Tecnomatix | Making Transformative Products | Tony Hemmelgarn

Tecnomatix® is a comprehensive portfolio of digital manufacturing solutions that helps companies to digitalize manufacturing and the process of turning innovative ideas and raw materials into transformative products. It is a software suite that enables organizations to create a digital twin of their manufacturing processes, including robots, automation, material handling systems, and people, to improve the performance of their business. The software is used in various industries such as electronics, automotive, aerospace, and heavy equipment and is currently owned by Siemens AG.

Volkswagen announces a decline in quarterly earnings, stating it must rush to match Chinese EV business competitors