VW Group Sets Record Sales and Profits, World Dominance is Just a Matter of Time

Here’s the thing: the Volkswagen brand, by far the VW Group largest in terms of both sales and income, has suffered this year in operating profits. Yet the Group has set a new record for the third quarter as well as the first nine months of 2014.

It’s not a small one either. VW announced today that its earnings, before interest and taxes, increased by a staggering 16 percent thanks to the strong performance of Audi and Porsche in China and Europe.

Year-to-date, Audi and Porsche global sales have increased by 10 and 13 percent respectively, to 1.3 and 135,600 units. Aided by Skoda, which posted a 76 percent (!) increase in operating profit and 19 percent increase in revenue, thanks to a 13 percent in car sales (774,100 units) the VW Group is, according to an Autonews report, set to hit its 10 million sales target in 2014, a whole four years ahead of its original plan.

“We have turned a solid performance in the year to date”, said CEO Martin Winterkorn. “However, we must continue to focus on laying the foundations now that will enable us to respond to challenges in the auto industry”.

Herr Winterkorn, though, isn’t finished: he plans to rectify the VW passenger car situation by cost cutting and increased productivity in order to improve earnings by €5 billion in the next four years.

There was no word on Bentley or Bugatti – but chances are they are doing just fine, thank you very much.

By Andrew Tsaousis