Volkswagen tumbled further into the red in the third quarter, reporting an operating loss of €5.86 billion ($6.59 billion) for July–September, far worse than the €2.6 billion loss analysts polled by Visible Alpha had forecast and deeper than the €1.3 billion loss a year earlier, Reuters reported on Thursday. Sales revenue fell a stronger-than-forecast 6.3% to €75.3 billion.

Source: Reuters

€5.86 billionQ3 operating loss
€75.3 billionQ3 sales revenue, down 6.3%
1.885 millionVehicles delivered in Q3, down 14.3%
€71 millionOperating result for the first nine months

"The nine-month results make one thing clear: We cannot afford to lose any time. We must act quickly and decisively," finance chief Arno Antlitz said in a video statement. Antlitz said the hefty loss was caused by special items totalling around €8 billion, and added: "But even before these special items, our operating return on sales after nine months is just 3.8%. That is not enough in the long term." Volkswagen's own results release put the nine-month operating result at just €71 million, against €5.4 billion a year earlier, with the group employing 648,100 people at the end of September.

Source: Volkswagen Group (official results release)

China is at the centre of the slide. Bloomberg reported that Volkswagen's sales in China fell 40% in the third quarter, and that after decades of strong profits from China, the speed of the decline there is depriving the carmaker of funds to invest in future products and technology. Reuters pointed to the same pressures: brutal competition in China, billions in annual tariff costs and a costly electric-vehicle ramp-up in Europe, where Chinese rivals are also making gains.

Source: Bloomberg (via Moneyweb)

Chief executive Oliver Blume plans 100,000 job cuts across the group, which includes the Audi and Porsche brands, and up to four plants in Germany face closure under his plan — a programme that has met fierce opposition from unions and possible strikes from early next year, Reuters reported. Last month Volkswagen flagged €10 billion in one-off costs, mostly linked to problems at Porsche, while slashing its 2026 profit margin forecast to a maximum of 1%. Bloomberg reported the company is targeting returns of between 8% and 10% by 2030. Volkswagen shares were indicated 1.1% lower in pre-market trading after the results.