The German automaker Audi lost more than one billion euros in profits in the third quarter. As the VW subsidiary announced today, from July to September only 110 million euros profit was posted – in the same period last year, there were still 1.26 billion.
The central background is a penalty imposed by the Munich public prosecutor in the diesel scandal in the amount of 800 million euros. In addition, according to Audi high costs for new models, the conversion of the works for electric cars and strongly decreased sales figures because of the delays in the registration of vehicles according to the new consumption measurement standard WLTP. Sales fell in the third quarter by three percent to 458,000 cars.
Audi has been the strongest profit driver in the VW Group for many years. „The current situation is an enormous challenge for Audi,“ said acting CEO Bram Schot. However, with further approvals and the new models, he expects declining fluctuations from November. For the full year, the Executive Board expects sales almost at the previous year’s level and slightly higher sales, but an operating profit „well below the previous year“.
