Volkswagen today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2023, with revenue up 22% to 76 billion euros (currently about RMB 580.64 billion); an operating profit of 5.75 billion euros (currently about RMB 43.93 billion), with an operating margin of 7.5%; and BEV (pure electric vehicle) deliveries up 42 percent to 141,000 units (7% of total deliveries) in the first quarter. Deliveries of BEVs increased by 42% to 141,000 units (7% of total deliveries).
According to CNBC, Bloomberg and other reports, Volkswagen CFO Arno Antlitz said after the earnings release that the first quarter performance was encouraging and that Volkswagen was “quite confident” of achieving all its financial targets for 2023 as it now has a backlog of 1.8 million vehicle orders in Europe. “The results were encouraging.
Antlitz also said that although VW’s deliveries in China fell 14.5% in the first quarter of 2023, it remains confident that it will recover sales for the remainder of the year as it expands its model range and China-specific technologies. Antlitz said the focus is on differentiating between the fuel vehicle market in China and the pure electric vehicle (BEV) market, where VW needs to catch up with competitors.
“We’ve had a slow start in China.” Antlitz said, “I just came back from Shanghai (the 2023 Shanghai Auto Show) where I spent three days looking at competitors’ cars and talking to the local team, and it’s clear we need to accelerate, especially in the pure electric vehicle segment.”
Volkswagen said in its earnings report that under the leadership of “In China for China”, the group has introduced a new “100% TechCo” program, which combines R&D and procurement of vehicles and components. This is expected to reduce the development time for new products and technologies by around 30%. The Group plans to invest €1 billion (currently about RMB 7.64 billion) in a new fully-connected electric vehicle innovation center, headquartered in Hefei. Volkswagen will also accelerate the development of autonomous driving in China and accelerate the development of software for specific technology concepts in China.
According to Automobilwoche, the Volkswagen Group is developing a new Chinese sub-brand in the premium electric vehicle segment, thus strengthening its position in the Chinese market. According to terminal insurance volumes, BYD’s cumulative passenger vehicle insurance volumes in the first quarter of 2023 surpassed those of FAW-Volkswagen and SAIC-Volkswagen combined, officially topping China’s top-selling auto brands.
