#Core

SEAT S.A. achieved an operating profit of 415 million euros between January and September 2024. These results were 17.2% lower than for the same period of the previous year (501 million euros), in a challenging economic environment affecting the global automotive industry. Furthermore, 2024 has been a pivotal year for the company, marked by substantial investment to support several major launches for the CUPRA brand’s range of BEVs and PHEVs as the company drives forward its transformation toward electrification.

Škoda Auto maintains its positive momentum: deliveries to customers in the first nine months of 2024 increased to 671,300 vehicles (+4.5% YoY). This growth was supported by a strong third quarter, with 222,700 vehicles delivered (+6%). The automaker is performing particularly well in Europe, outpacing the overall European market. The company’s financial figures underscore its position of strength: revenue increased to €20.4 billion (+3.8%), operating profit rose by 34.8% to €1.7 billion, and the return on sales (RoS) reached 8.3% (6.4%). The most successful markets in terms of absolute growth in the first three quarters are Germany, Turkey, the United Kingdom, Poland, and France. The all-electric Enyaq remains one of the best-selling BEVs overall in key markets like Germany, where it also ranked first among electric cars in September. This result makes the Enyaq the second best-selling electric car in Germany in the first nine months of 2024. Škoda has solidified its position as the fourth best-selling brand in Europe. It aims to build on this success: the recently launched all-electric compact SUV, Elroq, stands out as the most affordable EV in its class, taking into account its extensive standard equipment and battery size. In a first for the brand, sales began immediately after its premiere.

In a year shaped by a persistently weak economic environment, more intense competition and political challenges, the Brand Group Core continues to concentrate in 2024 on successful model ramp-ups and execution of the performance programs in the various brands.

The TRATON GROUP recorded increasing unit sales in the third quarter of 2024 in a normalizing market environment. According to preliminary data, a total of 85,300 vehicles were delivered across the TRATON brands in the third quarter of 2024, up 5% on the prior-year quarter. In the first nine months of the year, unit sales amounted to 245,400 vehicles, equivalent to a decline of 2%.

With effect from October 1, 2024, there will be a change on the Board of Management of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand and on the Board of Management of SEAT S.A. Patrik A. Mayer will take over from David Powels as Executive Vice-President for Finance and IT at SEAT S.A., while David Powels will take over the responsibilities of Patrik A. Mayer.

In a year shaped by a persistently weak economic environment, more intense competition and political challenges, the Brand Group Core continues to focus on successful model ramp-ups and execution of the performance programs in the various brands. The Brand Group plans to boost profitability in the second half of the year through a clear focus on strict cost efficiency and the realization of synergies generated by cooperation, as well as through growth.

SEAT S.A. achieved the best sustainability results in its history in 2023, thanks to the effectiveness of its strategic projects in the environmental, social and governance (ESG) areas. The company has reduced the environmental impact of its facilities in Martorell, Barcelona and El Prat by 53% since 2010 by improving its production processes. In the last year, it has also implemented wellness and diversity programmes that had a direct impact on the entire workforce, in addition to strengthening the governance structure.

The Board of Management of the Volkswagen Group has decided to make all-electric entry-level mobility more widespread. The Brand Group Core will bring affordable electric vehicles from Europe, for Europe, into the market. The world premiere is scheduled for 2027. Volkswagen has been working for some time to offer compact, particularly inexpensive electric vehicles in the price range of around 20,000 euros. In this way, the Group's volume brands are fulfilling their promise to create mobility for all and continue to facilitate the entry into e-mobility. With its brand diversity, the Volkswagen Group also assumes a social responsibility for affordable, sustainable mobility.

The Brand Group Core delivered robust financial results in the first quarter of 2024. With stable vehicle sales and slightly lower sales revenue, the Brand Group Core reported a significant year-on-year increase in operating profit and operating return. At 6.4%, operating return was well within the target corridor of 6-7% for 2024. All brands contributed to this achievement, reporting higher returns on the basis of focused cost management as well as increased implementation of synergy and efficiency measures within the Brand Group. The financial performance in the first quarter felt the impact of offsetting effects – these included, for example, the abrupt termination of government incentives for electric cars in the German market and the related discount measures at the beginning of the year. Furthermore, there was high depreciation attributable to investments in product campaigns and the related ramp-up of electric products.

The Brand Group Core delivered robust financial results in 2023. Higher volume and price effects, improved availability of parts and lower fixed costs had a positive effect, while higher product costs and the deconsolidation of Volkswagen Group Rus had a negative impact on the result. The global market and competitive environment remains challenging. The Brand Group Core is working on further stabilizing its performance with a view to improving its resilience against external factors, in particular given the slower development of the e-mobility market in Europe.

The Golf is celebrating its 50th birthday this year – and Volkswagen is launching an enhanced version of its bestseller to mark the anniversary. Customers will be able to order the new model in just a few weeks. The new Golf impresses with a next-generation infotainment system, a more intuitive operating concept, a sharper front and rear end design as well as efficient drive systems. These include plug-in hybrid drives with an increased all-electric range of about 100 kilometres. In addition, an illuminated Volkswagen logo adorns the front for the first time on a Golf.

The Volkswagen brand has achieved an important milestone in the “Accelerate Forward/ Road to 6.5” global performance program, with management and employee representatives reaching agreement on key points to streamline the company, following intensive negotiations. The objective of the three-year program is to secure the Volkswagen Group’s core brand competitiveness, ensure it is future-proof and sustainable in the long term. The Volkswagen brand aims to make a positive earnings contribution totaling ten billion euros by 2026, also to offset negative effects such as inflation and higher raw material costs. The operating return on sales is expected to improve sustainably to 6.5 percent in 2026. The Volkswagen brand projects that the program will deliver positive earnings contributions of up to four billion euros as early as 2024. To achieve this, the Company concentrates on performance-enhancing and cost-saving measures in the program’s three focus areas: optimizing material and product costs, reducing fixed and manufacturing costs and increasing revenues. The Company and the employee representatives have also reached agreement on staff reduction measures to cut personnel and labor costs. These measures will apply throughout Volkswagen AG. As such, from January 2024 the Company will extend its partial retirement schemes to all employees born in 1967 (and for severely handicapped employees born in 1968), to reduce administrative staff costs in particular. The current hiring freeze and access freeze to the Tarif Plus salary group will continue until further notice.

From now on, many models in the ID. Family now offer bidirectional charging with the "Vehicle to Home" function. With a home power station and the integrated Home Energy Management System (HEMS) from Volkswagen partner HagerEnergy GmbH, customers can cover as much of their household consumption as possible with their photovoltaic system. Both companies have launched a pilot project in Sweden in which an entire housing estate is being supplied with vehicles and the corresponding charging infrastructure.

The Volkswagen Group’s Brand Group Core extended cross-brand cooperation in the first nine months of 2023. Further synergy and scale effects were leveraged through disciplined investments and increased cost efficiency between the Volkswagen, ŠKODA, SEAT/CUPRA and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands. There was a slight increase in the overall effectiveness of the Brand Group – however, performance felt the impact of negative factors such as interruptions in production resulting from the floods in Slovenia.