BERLIN — Volkswagen Group reported third-quarter earnings of 4.3 billion euros ($4.29 billion), behind pre-pandemic ranges, following 1.6 billion euros ($1.6 billion) in one-off prices from the suspension of Russian actions and its Porsche itemizing.
The automaker reduce its automobile gross sales expectations for the 12 months as chip availability stays scarce and logistics proceed to pose a problem
VW stated it anticipated deliveries to be across the identical as final 12 months, after reporting earlier this month that they have been down 13 % within the first 9 months. In Could it had predicted a 5 % to 10 % rise.
“Because of the structural undersupply of semiconductors, the 2022 monetary 12 months will proceed to be burdened by provide bottlenecks,” VW stated within the assertion on Friday. “We anticipate the provision of semiconductors to enhance additional within the fourth quarter.”
The outcomes beat final 12 months’s third quarter when chip shortages lowered gross sales throughout the auto trade, however they lagged behind pre-pandemic earnings because the automaker grapples with provide chain bottlenecks and excessive prices.
VW maintained its outlook for the 12 months of hitting the higher finish of a 7 % to eight.5 % earnings margin, in contrast with its third-quarter margin of 6 %, given a robust restoration within the Chinese language market and an easing of semiconductor provide.
Because the financial outlook darkens, VW joined Ford in a shock determination this week to stop all actions with U.S. driverless automobile firm Argo AI following multi-billion investments by each companions.
The choice will lead to a 1.9 billion euros non-cash impairment cost, VW stated Friday.
VW warned of accelerating aggressive strain, indicating unusually excessive automobile costs is perhaps slipping.
Automakers have navigated the chip disaster by each swinging manufacturing to their most profitable fashions and elevating costs as automobile availability dwindled.
In the meantime, VW stated it continues to wrestle to maintain up with robust demand for full-electric automobiles with a excessive order financial institution in Europe of 350,000 automobiles.
Automakers are rising from a interval of setbacks dominated by crippling supply-chain woes to deal with a weakening economic system. For now, the image stays uneven with producers working down full order books after months of disrupted manufacturing.
However with recession fears mounting, shopper demand has began to gradual. Ford Motor earlier this week trimmed its revenue forecast for the 12 months due to shortages and better funds to suppliers.
Reuters and Bloomberg contributed to this report