VW loses a third of his profit in the second quarter

The VW Group recorded a significant drop in profits in the second quarter. After taxes, the Wolfsburgers earned a good third less than a year earlier with 2.29 billion euros, as they announced. The reason was, among other things, the poor performance in day -to -day business with the expensive brands Porsche and Audi – and the tariffs in the USA.

1.2 billion euros alone cost the group’s import duties in the United States. There have been 27.5 percent inches on cars since April. This also let the sales figure collapsed there – by 16 percent. VW also cited high renovation costs and the currently good run of the still weaker electric cars. In China, the group also earned significantly less.

The operational group result dropped by a good 29 percent to 3.83 billion euros, which corresponds to an operational margin of 4.7 percent. That was in the context of the expectations of analysts. Despite somewhat increased deliveries, sales were three percent in the red 80.6 billion euros.

The former earnings pears Audi and Porsche developed particularly weakly. At the Ingolstadt from Audi, the operational profit dropped by two thirds to 550 million euros in the second quarter. The sports car manufacturer Porsche earned only 154 million euros after 1.7 billion a year earlier in the car business – i.e. without financial services.

The Wolfsburg core brand VW, on the other hand, earned significantly more in the months of April to June: 991 million euros, almost six times as much as in the very weak period of the previous year. The long-weaking core brand thus collected more operational profits than the two premium sister brands.

Porsche and Audi are particularly difficult in China, and high renovation costs are currently burdening their profits. Audi wants to delete 7,500 jobs and Porsche at least 1,900 jobs. Audi also launches new models, which in the meantime makes sales stall.

In contrast, the core brand VW benefits financially from the fact that the group passed a large savings program at the end of last year and over 35,000 jobs will be canceled by 2030, which corresponds to around every fourth place. A total of 20,000 employees have already agreed to a job waiver, mostly as part of partial retirement. 4,000 jobs have already been dismantled.

In the current year, Volkswagen expects less profit because of the US tariffs and also because of the weakness at Porsche and Audi. The Wolfsburg Dax group said that the proportion of operational profit in sales should only land between 4.0 and 5.0 percent. For the first time, VW included the US tariffs. So far, VW had targeted 5.5 to 6.5 percent return, but still without taking into account the tariffs.

The proceeds themselves are also expected to be lower by CEO Oliver Blume: Instead of up to five percent plus, the manager is now targeting sales at the previous year’s level.

In contrast, Blume is satisfied with the increasing sales figures for electric cars. “In Europe, we also expanded our top position in electromobility with a 28 percent market share,” he said. “Our order books are well filled.” However, the growing e-car business is currently the result, added CFO Arno Antlitz. The half-year profit “also decreased due to the margin-weaker e-models”.

Note: This post has been updated several times.