The big, scary headline figure is 98.7%. That’s how much the Volkswagen Group’s profits have fallen in the first nine months of this year when compared to the same period in 2025. Ouch.
In cold hard cash, that means the whole group has made just €71 million (around P5.06 billion) in operating profit worldwide so far this year. At this exact point last year, it had raked in €5.4 billion (around P385 billion).
“The nine-month results make one thing clear: We cannot afford to lose any time and must act quickly and decisively,” said Arno Antlitz, CFO and COO of the Volkswagen Group.
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“We are bringing exciting vehicles featuring state-of-the-art technology to market. We are leading the way in electric mobility in Europe. Electric vehicles account for 40% of our order bank. Our Electric Urban Car Family, with 150,000 orders, is making a major contribution to this.
“At the same time, US tariffs weigh on us, the Chinese market is shrinking, and competitive pressure in Europe is increasing significantly. The market success of our electric vehicles is putting additional pressure on our earnings, as we currently earn less from electric vehicles than from combustion-engine vehicles.”
And actually, while Antlitz mentions the market success of the Volkswagen Group’s EVs, total vehicle sales across the group are down by 10.6%. It has shifted 5.9 million cars so far this year, versus almost 6.6 million after nine months of last year. Not great news, particularly if the margins on each car are getting smaller.
Of course, we knew that VW was in trouble. Earlier this year it announced plans to restructure, with up to four factories earmarked for closure and half of its 150 models on the chopping block. These latest results just prove why that’s all necessary.
In terms of the specific brands, we’re told that Porsche actually increased its profits compared to last year, bringing in €1.5 billion (around P106.9 billion) before interest and taxes. Unfortunately, what the group refers to as its ‘Progressive’ brands (Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati) saw profits fall by 26% to €1.2 billion (around P85.5 billion). We’re told that was mostly due to declining sales in China and North America.
The profit made by the ‘Core’ brands (Volkswagen, Skoda, Seat, and Cupra) also fell from €4.7 billion last year to €4.3 billion (around P306.4 billion) this year, and the press release accompanying the nine-month results was quick to point out that “strong performance by Skoda offset the weak Operating Result of the Volkswagen brand.” Interesting. A huge €8.7 billion (around P620 billion) of one-off costs decimated the Group’s overall operating profit.
“With our Future Plan, we have defined the key measures to sustainably improve our profitability: a streamlined model range, simpler structures, improved vehicle costs, lower overhead costs, greater efficiency in our plants, and faster technology development,” said Antlitz.
“Together, these form a comprehensive cost program of around €31 billion (around P2.21 trillion). What matters now is swift and consistent implementation.”
NOTE: This article first appeared on TopGear.com. Minor edits have been made.
