AGL 40.06 Increased By ▲ 0.06 (0.15%)
AIRLINK 130.55 Increased By ▲ 1.02 (0.79%)
BOP 6.79 Increased By ▲ 0.11 (1.65%)
CNERGY 4.60 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.65%)
DCL 8.97 Increased By ▲ 0.03 (0.34%)
DFML 43.01 Increased By ▲ 1.32 (3.17%)
DGKC 84.15 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (0.45%)
FCCL 33.00 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (0.7%)
FFBL 78.15 Increased By ▲ 2.68 (3.55%)
FFL 11.85 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (3.31%)
HUBC 110.80 Increased By ▲ 0.25 (0.23%)
HUMNL 14.56 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
KEL 5.62 Increased By ▲ 0.23 (4.27%)
KOSM 8.30 Decreased By ▼ -0.10 (-1.19%)
MLCF 39.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.09 (-0.23%)
NBP 60.80 Increased By ▲ 0.51 (0.85%)
OGDC 200.00 Increased By ▲ 0.34 (0.17%)
PAEL 26.65 No Change ▼ 0.00 (0%)
PIBTL 7.80 Increased By ▲ 0.14 (1.83%)
PPL 160.40 Increased By ▲ 2.48 (1.57%)
PRL 26.70 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.11%)
PTC 18.64 Increased By ▲ 0.18 (0.98%)
SEARL 83.04 Increased By ▲ 0.60 (0.73%)
TELE 8.23 Decreased By ▼ -0.08 (-0.96%)
TOMCL 34.48 Decreased By ▼ -0.03 (-0.09%)
TPLP 9.10 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (0.44%)
TREET 17.03 Decreased By ▼ -0.44 (-2.52%)
TRG 60.30 Decreased By ▼ -1.02 (-1.66%)
UNITY 27.81 Increased By ▲ 0.38 (1.39%)
WTL 1.42 Increased By ▲ 0.04 (2.9%)
BR100 10,564 Increased By 156.9 (1.51%)
BR30 31,945 Increased By 232 (0.73%)
KSE100 98,630 Increased By 1301.8 (1.34%)
KSE30 30,708 Increased By 515.2 (1.71%)
Business & Finance

Volkswagen lifts margin target on demand for premium cars

  • Volkswagen's operating profit came in at 4.8 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in the first quarter to March, helped by cost cuts and higher sales, versus 0.9 billion in the same period last year that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Published May 6, 2021

FRANKFURT: Volkswagen, Europe's largest car maker, raised its operating margin target for 2021 on Thursday, pointing to stronger demand for more profitable cars in the first three months of the year.

The group now expects its operating profit margin to be 5.5-7% this year, versus a previous forecast for 5.0-6.5%, with vehicle deliveries and sales each up by more than a fifth.

The better outlook is mainly driven by improved demand for high-margin premium cars such as Porsche and Audi, a trend that has also been observed by rivals General Motors, Daimler and Ford and Stellantis.

During the first quarter deliveries of cars under the Porsche and Audi brands were both up about a third year on year, Volkswagen has said. Sales of electric vehicles more than doubled to 133,300 vehicles.

"We started the year with great momentum and are on a strong operational course. This is clearly reflected in our positive quarterly figures," Volkswagen AG CEO Herbert Diess said.

"Our successful e-offensive continues to gain momentum and we have significantly expanded it with attractive new models."

Shares in the group were indicated to open 1.2% higher in pre-market trade.

The world's second largest carmaker by vehicle sales this year pleased investors when it provided more detail about its electric vehicle strategy, including higher sales targets and plans to build six battery factories in Europe.

Volkswagen's operating profit came in at 4.8 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in the first quarter to March, helped by cost cuts and higher sales, versus 0.9 billion in the same period last year that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Its improved outlook for the year comes even though the car maker expects the impact of an ongoing shortage of crucial automotive chips to intensify in the second quarter.

Comments

Comments are closed.