4:29 pm, February 26, 2021
Volkswagen said it ended 2020 in a stronger financial position than it expected with a post-tax profit of 8.8bn euros in spite of the pandemic, it reported today (Feb 26).
The figure – equivalent to £7.6bn – was a 37 per cent drop on 2019’s €14bn (£12.2bn) post-tax earnings.
The German manufacturer said the swift recovery of China – its biggest single market – from the coronavirus crisis helped its bottom line, as did strong demand for luxury cars.
It also tripled sales of electric vehicles to 422,000 ahead of more severe EU limits on CO2 emissions.
Sales revenue fell by 12 per cent from €252.6m (£219.3bn) to €222.9bn (£194bn) but that was less than the 16.4 per cent drop in unit sales from 11m vehicles to 9.2m.
VW said it had taken important strategic steps to accelerate its push into software and digital technologies and services.
More financial details will be announced on March 16 at its annual news conference.
In the meantime, chief financial officer Frank Witter said: ‘The financial results now available are far better than originally expected and show what our company is capable of achieving, especially in a crisis.
‘We intend to carry over the strong momentum from the significantly better second half into the current year.
‘The programmes for reducing our fixed costs and in procurement will make us more robust in the long term.’
