On May 14, 2025, a worker conducts a last review of the new Volkswagen ID.3 electric cars in the Volkswagen plant.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty pictures
Germany Volkswagen On Friday, the instructions of the entire year lowered and reported a strong decline in profit in the second quarter, since the autogier navigates the disturbing effects of US tariffs and restructuring costs.
The largest automobile manufacturer in Europe achieved an operating profit of EUR 3.83 billion (4.49 billion US dollars) for three months to June, which decreased from 29% compared to the previous year of 5.4 billion euros. According to a consensus with factset compiled, the analysts had expected that a profit was achieved in the second quarter with 3.94 billion euros.
Volkswagen reported sales with sales of 80.8 billion euros in the second quarter, with the analyst expectations of 82.2 billion euros also missing.
The car manufacturer said that the effects of US tariffs alone cost the company 1.3 billion euros in the first six months of the year. The restructuring regulations amounted to 700 million euros in the same period.
Looking forward, Volkswagen said that the sales return from 2025 are now expected to be between 4% and 5%, from an earlier forecast from 5.5% to 6.5%. The turnover of the full year is expected to be in line last year compared to an increase of up to 5%.
The results come when the car manufacturers of Europe have difficulty dealing with a number of industry challenges, including a robust competition from Chinese car brands and the import duties of US President Donald Trump of 25%.
The automotive sector is generally considered acutely susceptible to US tariffs, especially in view of the high globalization of the supply chains and the strong dependence on manufacturing companies across North America.
“If you look at the first half of the year, you basically see a mixed picture,” said Arno Antlitz, Chief Financial Officer at Volkswagen, to CNBCs “Squawk Box Europe” on Friday.
“First and foremost, you see an enormous success of our products, both on the combustion engine side and on the side of electric vehicles. In Europe, every fourth vehicle comes from the Volkswagen group, but as you said, our numbers are considerably below,” he added.
Volkswagen's CFO said that EVS's ramp was burdened by EVS on the edges and found that Margen for EVS is lower compared to ICE vehicles (International Combusion Engine).
Apart from that, once the effects of US tariffs and restructuring measures had a combined cost of around 2 billion euros.
Important income highlights:
- Volkswagen achieved 80.8 million vehicle sales in the three months until June, which decreased from 3% compared to the same period in the previous year.
- The recording for vehicles in Western Europe rose by 19%in the first year of the year.
- The company expects an investment rate of 12% and 13% in its automotive department.
Trump recently threatened to excite the tasks at EU auto imports from August 1 to 30%, which increased the pressure on the 27-nations retail block. The European Commission, the EU's executive arm, has been considering its answer since then.
Volkswagen said it is assumed that the US import duties of 27.5% will continue to apply in the second half of the year and states that there is “high uncertainty” in terms of trading policy.
Volkswagen's shares rose by 2.2% at 1:18 a.m. London (8:18 ET) and returned to previous losses.
Home Market vs. Export market
Rico Luman, senior economist for transport and logistics at Dutch Bank Ing, said that it was encouraging that Volkswagen was able to increase its sales of the electric car “quite”, especially in its home market in Europe.
“Yes, they had trouble staying up to date on the export market, but at least [the] The home market is doing well at the moment. You increase EV sales. It is now up to 11% of global sales – and in Europe it is already much more, “Luman told CNBC's” Europe Early Edition “on Friday.
“You may have benefited from deteriorated Tesla sales, but at the moment in Europe it is still going quite well,” he added.
A new Volkswagen ID.3 Electric car is preparing for the final inspection in the Volkswagen plant on May 14, 2025 in Dresden.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images News | Getty pictures
Volkswagen reported on sales growth in the first half of 19% in South America, 2% in Western Europe and 5% in Central and Eastern Europe. The company said that this is more than the expected decline of 3% in China and – especially due to tariffs – for a decline of 16% in North America – mainly because of tariffs.
The company said its order intake for all electrical vehicles in the first half of 2025 rose by 62%.
– Jenni Reid from CNBC contributed to this report.
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