All Press Releases

The Volkswagen Group continued to grow during the first nine months of the fiscal year and is well on track to achieve its sales revenue and profit target. Despite the switch to the new WLTP test procedure, which resulted in the anticipated temporary third-quarter decline in unit sales particularly in Europe, the Group’s key figures for the first nine months are above the prior-year figures. Group sales revenue rose to EUR 174.6 billion, following EUR 170.1 billion in the prior-year period. Amounting to EUR 13.3 billion (previous year: 13.2 billion), operating profit before special items was on a par with the previous year, thus the operating return on sales stood at 7.6 percent. In the first nine months, the diesel issue gave rise to special items of EUR 2.4 billion (previous year: EUR 2.6 billion). Profit before tax increased by EUR 2.2 billion to EUR 12.5 billion. Net liquidity in the Automotive Divi-sion amounted to EUR 24.8 billion.

In the context of achieving capital market readiness of TRATON AG, Volkswagen AG and TRATON AG with consent of their respective corporate bodies today have agreed on the sale of the 76 % stake of MAN SE in listed Renk Aktiengesellschaft as well as the 100 % stake of MAN SE in MAN Energy Solutions SE to a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG. The purchase price shall correspond to the expected IFRS equity book value of these participations as of 31 December 2018 in the range of approx. EUR 1.85 bn. to approx. EUR 2.05 bn. In addition, the indirect 100% participation of MAN SE in MAN Energy Solutions USA, Inc., will be sold and transferred to a subsidiary of Volkswagen AG for a purchase price of approx. USD 99 m. The transferred entities form MAN group’s business area Power Engineering. The sale is intended to be completed by year-end 2018. As a result of this transaction, TRATON AG will become the lead company of a pure truck & bus group.

TRATON AG achieved a significant increase in deliveries of commercial vehicle in the first three quarters of 2018*. Between January and September, the Group delivered some 15% more vehicles than in the prior-year period. In total, this amounted to 166,330 vehicles of the MAN Truck & Bus, Scania and Volkswagen Caminhões e Ônibus brands. “Our entire team did a good job in the first nine months,“ says Andreas Renschler, CEO of TRATON AG and member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG. “However, the very strong sales performance of the first half of the year tapered off slightly in the third quarter.”

The Volkswagen Group today rolled out a comprehensive package of measures to improve air quality in Germany through fleet renewal. The successful environmental incentives for scrappage of Euro-1 to Euro-4 diesel vehicles of any make are again being offered by some of the Group’s brands throughout Germany. Vehicle keepers in the 14 cities classified by the federal government as having the highest levels of pollution and in the surrounding areas will be entitled to the new exchange premiums. These premiums will be paid in addition to the vehicle’s residual value when trading in a Euro-4 or Euro-5 diesel vehicle of any make. The environmental incentives and exchange premiums come into immediate effect and are valid until further notice. The Group’s Audi, SEAT, ŠKODA, Volkswagen and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands will be announcing details of their brand-specific programs.

The Volkswagen Group has proceeded to the next round of its Group-wide employee survey. Up to November 11, 2018, employees will have an opportunity to express their opinion on topics such as corporation and leadership, information, the workplace and work procedures, and to suggest improvements. Volkswagen has continued to develop its “Stimmungsbarometer“ (opinion barometer), which has now reached its 10th version. This year, the main focus is on the topics of integrity, compliance and culture as well as the implementation of measures resulting from evaluation and discussion within the teams.

Volkswagen supports the federal government’s efforts to prevent possible driving bans in German cities by implementing suitable measures. The quickest and most effective path to improved air quality is consistent fleet renewal. Therefore, as soon as possible, Volkswagen Group’s high-volume brands will offer swapping incentives to customers with EU1 to EU5 diesel vehicles who want to change to a modern Volkswagen Group vehicle.

The supervisory boards of Volkswagen AG and AUDI AG have today consented to the conclu-sion of an agreement with Rupert Stadler on the termination of his offices as a member of the board of management of Volkswagen AG and chairman of the board of management of AUDI AG as well as of his service agreements. Mr. Stadler is leaving the companies with immediate effect and will no longer work for the Volkswagen Group. Mr. Stadler is doing so because, due to his ongoing pretrial detention, he is unable to fulfil his duties as a member of the board of management and wishes to concentrate on his defence. The contractual execution depends on the course and outcome of the criminal proceedings.

Today, at the IAA Commercial Vehicles in Hanover, Germany, TRATON AG (“TRATON”) and Solera Holdings, Inc. (“Solera”) announced a strategic partnership aimed to shape the future digital landscape of global transportation and logistics. This collaboration includes fleet management, driver services and digital sales solutions for participants in the global commercial vehicle ecosystem.