Volkswagen third quarter 2024 results | Wilnesh News

German automaker Volkswagen reported a 42% drop in third-quarter operating profit on Wednesday.

Operating profit fell to 2.86 billion euros ($3.1 billion), and third-quarter sales fell 0.5% from the same period last year to about 78.5 billion euros.

Volkswagen said car sales in the third quarter of 2024 fell 8.3% compared with the same period last year.

As of the end of September 2024, the Volkswagen Group’s net liquidity was negative 160.6 billion euros. At the end of 2023, the company’s net liquidity was negative €147.4 billion.

Volkswagen said on Wednesday that results for the first three quarters of the year were hurt by rising fixed costs and restructuring efforts. Operating profit fell by 21% year-on-year from January to September this year.

Volkswagen Group Chief Financial Officer and Chief Operating Officer Arnold Antlitz said the results reflected “challenging market conditions” and underscored the importance of continued performance planning across the company.

Volkswagen released third-quarter results last month after lowering its annual forecast for 2024 for the second time in just a few months. At the time, the automaker said it expected profit margins this year to be about 5.6% and sales to fall 0.7% to 320 billion euros. Those numbers remained unchanged Wednesday.

Volkswagen has struggled in recent months, with the company warning that German factories could close and in September canceling a series of labor deals with local workers. The company also said it would end an employment protection agreement that has been in place for German employees since 1994.

On Monday, Volkswagen’s union said the company’s management was planning massive pay cuts and layoffs, as well as closing or downsizing all German plants.

In response, Volkswagen reiterated the need for restructuring and said it would present plans to cut job costs during a round of labor deal talks on Wednesday.

This breaking news story is being updated.