The Volkswagen Passenger Cars improved its sales revenue and operating profits in the first quarter of 2019 despite experiencing a slight decline on its deliveries.
According to its first-quarter sales report, Volkswagen’s sales revenue grew by 7.1% to €21.5 billion (P1.25 trillion) while after three months, the operating profit before special impacts was 4.8% up from prior-year figure to €921 million (P53.6 billion).
Due to a sluggish market, Volkswagen’s deliveries fell by 4.5% to 1,456,000 vehicles in the first three months of 2019. However, the company “intends to recover” as it seeks to capitalize on the strong demand for the SUV models by adding new variants to its portfolio, such as the new T-Cross.
“The Volkswagen brand has made a good start to the new financial year. The figures for the first three months show that our consistent focus on improving efficiency and cost discipline within the company is the right approach and is bearing fruit,” said Dr. Arno Antlitz, member of the Volkswagen management board.
Meanwhile, Volkswagen said that net operating cash flow before cash outflow caused by the diesel issue amounted to about €0.6 billion (P34.9 billion) in the first quarter of 2019.
Volkswagen management has set an operating return on sales target of at least 6% by 2022, in order to provide funds for all their future-oriented investments in e-mobility and digitalization from its own resources.
The car manufacturer also intends to increase the productivity of its plants by 30% by 2025.