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.
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.
AspenTech, a Massachusetts-based company, plays a pivotal role in the oil and gas industry by leveraging cutting-edge technologies, including AI (artificial intelligence). Let’s delve into how AspenTech contributes to this dynamic sector
It’s no secret that oil and gas is a boom-and-bust industry. Production is currently up, projected to increase to 13.7 million barrels daily in 2024. But this won’t last forever. Whether production is up or down, the key to maximizing production, optimizing efficiency, and taking advantage of increased profits is innovation, digital transformation,and automation.For stakeholders looking to deliver safer, more efficient, and cheaper energy, innovation and automation must be a top priority. Those who fall behind in the race to innovate, ultimately, run the risk of losing market share.
Talking to Thomas Hundertmark, a senior partner in McKinsey’s Houston office, Darren Woods is chairman and CEO of ExxonMobil made some crucial points and also gave some insights on what the conglomerate was doing in order to save the climate.
When Darren Woods took the reigns of ExxonMobil six years ago, no one could have anticipated that the Kansas resident would soon face what Texas oil patch vets call “a whole pile of trouble.” Three years later, the oil market collapsed during the COVID-19 pandemic, which dealt the 140-year-old oil organization its first annual upset in four decades.
Today oil and gas producers face severe regulatory and public relations obstacles due to the concern with greenhouse gases and resource depletion. Calgary-based start-up, Advanced Upstream (“AU”), has been disrupting the oil and gas industry with simple and reliable innovative technologies. AU’s products help the oil and gas producers to enhance energy production while reducing the corresponding environmental impact. By decreasing personnel and time on site, and lowering overall HSE risks across the board, the clients can see a notable improvement in their ESG rating, contributing to their bottom line.
Jasmin Staiblin, Chief Executive Officer of ABB Switzerland, says, “Global energy consumption continues to grow and, if left unabated, will lead to an ever-greater risk of irreversibly changing our climate. To take advantage of more sustainable energy sources, the energy landscape is in a state of profound change to allow the integration of increasing amounts of renewable energy sources into the grid, to allow infrastructure to run more intelligently and efficiently, and to ensure the supply of energy is available at all times.
The activation of the Fallon Two Rock solar farm project has recently bolstered the Californian energy …