Volkswagen reported reasonably good earnings for the first nine months of the year, despite trouble in Europe. The global rival of General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) and Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE: TM) reported that sales revenue was up 24% to €144.2 billion. Operating profits were flat at €8.8 billion.
But even VW could not escape the downdraft in Europe. The firm reported that deliveries in Western Europe fell 2.8% in the first three quarters of the year. At least it picked up ground on rivals in the region. Market share in Europe for the period was 24.6%, up from 23.2% last year.
Management brimmed with optimism despite the slowing of the world’s economy:
CFO Hans Dieter Pötsch was satisfied with business developments in light of the uncertain economic environment. “We have always said that the second half of the year would be more difficult, so our performance is in line with expectations. We have achieved a robust result.” He is confident that the Volkswagen Group will master the challenges that lie ahead of it. “We have a broad global positioning and our strong financial basis is practically unrivalled”, said Pötsch. “Our relative strength compared with the competition shows that we are on the right path.”
He may find his optimism wrong as the world’s economy slips deeper into recession.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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