Volkswagen Passenger Cars

BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand caused a stir at the Paris Motor Show with the I.D. concept vehicle. The show car represents a new generation of all-electric vehicles and a new automotive era of electric-powered, connected, autonomous cars. Another show car attracting media interest in the reporting year was the BUDD-e, whose appearance is inspired by the legendary VW campervan. Both vehicles are based on a new future-oriented platform for electric vehicles – the Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB). Last year, the brand also celebrated the 40th birthday of the Golf GTI.

The Volkswagen brand is completely repositioning itself with the TRANSFORM 2025+ strategy. The focus here is on strengthening the market position across the regions and segments, flanked by a significant increase in efficiency and productivity. At the same time, the brand will invest in e-mobility and connectivity. Furthermore, in the reporting period, the Board of Management and the General Works Council at Volkswagen made a pact for the future, which is aimed at initiating the return of the Volkswagen brand to a profitable course for growth. The program at locations in Germany with around 120,000 employees is intended to significantly increase competitiveness, in addition to ensuring that the company is secure enough to meet future challenges. It creates the prerequisites for the transformation from a pure automotive manufacturer to a successful mobility provider in the age of digitalization and increasing e-mobility.

At 6.0 million vehicles, deliveries by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand in the reporting period exceeded the prior-year figure by 2.7%. While sales in Brazil and Russia declined further in a difficult economic environment, there were substantial increases particularly in Italy (+14.9%), the Czech Republic (+14.7%), Poland (+18.7%), Mexico (+14.7%) and China (+14.0%). The new Tiguan was well received by the market.

Unit sales by the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand were slightly down on the previous year at 4.3 (4.4) million vehicles. The Polo, the new Tiguan and the Touran models were in high demand. The difference between deliveries and unit sales is mainly due to the fact that the vehicle-producing joint ventures in China are not counted as Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand companies.

The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand produced 6.1 million vehicles in 2016; this was 3.0% more than 2015.

SALES REVENUE AND EARNINGS

Sales revenue at the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand declined by 0.6% year-on-year in the reporting period to €105.7 billion. Operating profit before special items fell to €1.9 (2.1) billion. The decline was mainly attributable to volume-, mix- and currency-related effects and higher marketing costs as a result of the diesel issue. Cost savings had a positive impact. The operating return on sales before special items was 1.8 (2.0)%. The diesel issue in particular gave rise to special items of €−5.2 billion compared with €−16.4 billion in the previous year.

DELIVERIES BY MARKET
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