Skoda and Seat/Cupra help VW brand group core operating profit to top £6bn – Car Dealer Magazine

Skoda and Seat/Cupra helped Volkswagen’s brand group core operating profit soar by nearly 80% to more than £6bn last year.

Delivering the results at a media call, Volkswagen AG board member Thomas Schäfer, head of the brand group core and CEO of the Volkswagen passenger cars brand, said its profit rocketed to €7.3bn (circa £6.24bn) from €4.1bn (£3.5bn) in 2022 – a 78% increase.

The main driver was a 19% increase in sales to 4.826m vehicles versus 2022’s total of 4.069m.

Sales revenue was up 21% from €113.8bn (£97.3bn) to €137.8bn (£117.8bn).

Skoda saw global sales rise by 18.5% year on year to 866,800 vehicles, with the all-electric Enyaq recording the highest growth at 81,700 – up by 52%.

VW said it was one of the best-selling electric vehicles in many European markets, with the Skoda Auto Group as a whole reporting record sales revenue of €26.5bn (£22.6bn) last year – up 26.2% on 2022’s €21.0bn (£18bn).

Skoda’s operating profit before special items came in at €1.8bn (£1.5bn) – a massive 186% higher than the €0.63bn (£0.54bn) it made in 2022.

Meanwhile, Seat/Cupra enjoyed a 29% rise in unit sales to 602,000 vehicles (2022: 468,000 vehicles), and reported a 31% growth in sales revenue to €14.3bn (£12.23bn) from €10.9bn (£9.3bn) in 2022.

Operating profit before special items came in at €625m (£534m) – an astonishing 1,794% increase on the previous year’s figure of €33m (£28m).

Seat/Cupra’s operating return before special items rose by 4.1 percentage points to 4.4% from 2022’s 0.3%. VW said this was chiefly attributable to Cupra’s success, with higher unit sales and positive effects from efficiency improvements.

Schäfer said: ‘The closer co-operation in the brand group core is gaining traction. Our work is beginning to pay off. Our networking has become stronger and more systematic.

‘We now have several projects where cooperation extends beyond former brand boundaries. We have the right team spirit.

‘As the volume brands’ CEO team, we have pushed hard to drive this transformation forward in recent months. Our common goal: to fully exploit our performance potential as a brand group by sharing knowledge and working together to find the best solutions.’

He added: ‘With our strong, clearly differentiated models, we ideally cover important market segments without cannibalising business for our sister brands.

‘And our networking will become ever closer in order to leverage our enormous combined potential even more effectively in future under difficult economic conditions and within a rapidly changing automotive industry. That is good for each brand, for the group and for our customers.’

Patrik Mayer, VW board member for finance, said: ‘The solid results for the 2023 fiscal year show we are becoming more financially robust.

‘Volkswagen is the group’s core brand and we must live up to our responsibility – with good products, and also with good figures.

‘Systematically implementing our Accelerate Forward performance programme will make us significantly more effective and faster by 2026, not only in our factories and in development, but also in administration and sales.

‘We therefore believe we are well prepared for a demanding year in 2024 with its muted economic outlook.’

Pictured at top are Patrik Mayer, left, and Thomas Schäfer at the media call