Volkswagen’s net profit for last year fell by 30.6% compared to the previous year due to a decrease in sales in China, with annual revenue rising only by 0.7%. Interestingly, the number of sausages produced by Volkswagen surpassed vehicle sales when counted by unit. In their earnings announcement on the 11th (local time), Volkswagen disclosed that last year’s revenue was 324.6 billion euros (approximately 514.4 trillion Korean won), an increase of 0.7% compared to 2023. However, net profit after tax decreased from 17.9 billion euros in 2023 to 12.4 billion euros last year.
Operating profit also fell by 15.4%, from 22.5 billion euros to 19.1 billion euros, and the operating profit margin decreased from 7.0% to 5.9%. However, the operating profit margin was above the revised annual forecast of 5.6% that Volkswagen set in September of the previous year.
Volkswagen explained that one-time costs occurred due to the closure of the Audi plant in Brussels, Belgium. After seeing its operating profit margin drop to 2% between January and September of last year, Volkswagen agreed with the union to cut 30,500 jobs out of 120,000 in Germany and halt car production at two out of 10 factories.
Known as the “people’s car” in German, Volkswagen has been recognized as one of the representative companies of the country, not only for consumers but also in job creation in the manufacturing sector. However, last year’s poor performance and restructuring have made it a symbol of Germany’s economic slowdown.
Total sales of Volkswagen brand vehicles last year were 9,037,000 units, a 3.5% decrease compared to the previous year. Volkswagen stated that the decline in sales in China could not offset the solid performance in other continents.
In contrast, Volkswagen’s steady-seller and the famous sausage from its Wolfsburg headquarters set a new record last year, selling 8,552,000 units—about 200,000 more than the previous year. ARD Broadcasting reported that more sausages were sold than vehicles (5.2 million units) adorned with the Volkswagen logo.
Oliver Blume, Volkswagen CEO, predicted that this year’s sales would increase by up to 5% from last year, with an operating profit margin of 5.5-6.5%.