All Press Releases

Volkswagen AG is enhancing the role of Audi in the Group. To that end, Audi headed by its new CEO Markus Duesmann will take over the lead for research & development in the brand alliance. Furthermore, Ingolstadt is to be the organizational focus of the Car.Software organization. In the context of more efficient steering, Volkswagen AG plans to take over the 0.36 percent of Audi free-float shares. Volkswagen AG is currently the majority shareholder, holding approx. 99.64 percent of the subscribed capital of AUDI AG.

The Volkswagen Group has completed fiscal year 2019 successfully. Sales revenue in-creased by EUR 16.8 billion to EUR 252.6 billion and operating profit before special items rose to EUR 19.3 (17.1) billion. At 7.6 (7.3) percent, the operating return on sales before special items slightly exceeded the forecasted range for 2019. Operating profit also improved to EUR 17.0 (13.9) billion. Negative special items in connection with diesel decreased to EUR 2.3 (3.2) billion. In the Automotive Division, net cash flow increased markedly to EUR 10.8 (-0.3) billion, with net liquidity reaching EUR 21.3 (19.4) billion. Board of Management and Supervisory Board propose an increase of the dividend to EUR 6.50 (4.80) per ordinary share and EUR 6.56 (4.86) per preferred share. This would raise the payout ratio to 24.5 (20.4) percent.

The Federation of German Consumer Organisations (vzbv) and Volkswagen today reached agreement on the negotiated settlement of €830 million in connection with the class-action suit. The agreement was made possible on the initiative of the president of the Higher Regional Court of Braunschweig.

TRATON and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) will start a long-term cooperation that will initially focus on cybersecurity and Artificial Intelligence (AI). TRATON and RISE have therefore signed today a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that will serve as a platform for a long-term and strategic relationship. As the first step, the cooperation will concentrate on cybersecurity and AI, but the project portfolio will be flexible over time. “Innovation is an important pillar of our Global Champion Strategy. The cooperation with RISE will foster our development of new competences on very important technologies,” says Christian Levin, TRATON Board member responsible for R&D and Chief Operating Officer.

The Board of Management and Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG have approved the sale of the 76 percent stake or approximately 5.3 million shares in the listed company RENK AG to Triton for a purchase price of 97.80 EUR per share which is subject to adjustments in relation to dividend. The planned disposal results in a book value gain according to IFRS of approximately 150 million EUR for the Group and implies a cash inflow of approximately 530 million EUR. In the agreement of the disposal a long-term location and employment guarantee for the three German sites in Augsburg, Rheine and Hanover until December 31st 2026 was agreed between RENK and Triton. Furthermore, Triton agreed to keep the present legal form of the enterprise and the headquarters of RENK AG. All business divisions at the drive technology specialist are to be continued. The transaction is subject to foreign investment control and merger control approvals and is independent of the outcome of the voluntary takeover offer to outstanding shareholders of RENK announced by Triton. The transaction between Volkswagen and Triton is expected to be completed by early 2021.

TRATON SE (“TRATON”), one of the world’s largest commercial vehicle manufacturers, today offered to acquire all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Navistar International Corporation (“Navistar”) (NYSE: NAV) not already owned by TRATON at a price of USD 35 per share in cash. This represents a 45% premium over Navistar’s closing share price of USD 24.11 on January 29, 2020 and a 19% premium over Navistar’s 90-day volume weighted average price of USD 29.40. TRATON currently owns 16.8% of the outstanding common shares of Navistar.