Volkswagen posts 37% drop in first-quarter benefit, says Trump price lists may weigh on outlook

German auto massive Volkswagen on Wednesday reported a considerable drop in first-quarter benefit because the carmaker navigates the disruptive have an effect on of U.S. price lists at the international automobile trade.

Europe’s largest carmaker reported running benefit of 2.9 billion euros ($3.3 billion) for the primary 3 months of the yr, down 37% from the similar length remaining yr.

Volkswagen reported first-quarter gross sales income of 77.6 billion euros, up 2.8% from the primary quarter of 2024. The corporate cited upper automobile gross sales in markets outdoor China as underpinning the rise.

Earlier this month, Volkswagen warned that first-quarter running benefit would most probably are available in at 2.8 billion euros, mentioning particular results within the magnitude of 1.1 billion euros.

In an advert hoc commentary on April 9, the corporate known that the initial first-quarter end result deviated considerably from analyst expectancies of round 4 billion euros.

“As expected, the Volkswagen Group experienced a mixed start to the fiscal year,” Arno Antlitz, leader monetary officer and leader running officer at Volkswagen Group, stated in a commentary.

“Given the current volatile global economic situation, it is even more important to focus on the levers within our control. This means complementing our great product range with a competitive cost base – so we can ensure to succeed also in rapidly changing global markets,” Antlitz stated.

Other first-quarter highlights incorporated:

• Volkswagen reported 2.1 million automobile gross sales within the first 3 months of the yr, 0.9% above the similar length in 2024.
• First-quarter order intakes for automobiles in Western Europe jumped by means of 29% in comparison to the former yr.
• Net money go with the flow got here in at -0.8 billion euros, above the former yr.

Volkswagen posted running benefit of 4.59 billion euros for the primary quarter of 2024 and 6.15 billion euros for the general 3 months of 2024.

Looking forward, Volkswagen stated it expects running go back on gross sales, web money go with the flow and web liquidity to come back in on the decrease finish of annual forecasts, mentioning political uncertainty, expanding business restrictions and emissions rules.

Shares of Volkswagen fell 0.4%, erasing positive factors from previous within the day.

The sector is understood to be acutely prone to Trump’s back-and-forth business coverage, specifically given the prime globalization of provide chains and the heavy reliance on production operations throughout North America.

Trump on Tuesday signed an govt order to ease some auto price lists, offering some reduction to the worldwide sector.

Tariffs of 25% on imported automobiles into the U.S. will proceed, however the brand new measures goal to cut back the whole stage of tasks on automobile imports that had resulted from separate levies — equivalent to an extra 25% price lists on metal and aluminum — “stacking” on most sensible of each other.

Under the newest White House order, further 25% price lists on auto portions that had been set to begin by means of May 3 will even nonetheless take impact, however automobiles that undergo ultimate meeting within the U.S. will be capable of qualify for partial reimbursements on the ones levies for 2 years.

— CNBC’s Michael Wayland & Michele Luhn contributed to this file.