Audi Group announced on May 5 that audi group still achieved better financial data in the first three months of this year despite semiconductor supply bottlenecks, turmoil in some countries and the epidemic in some parts of China.
The Audi Group also achieved substantial financial growth in advancing electric vehicles and digital transformation, generating the highest operating profit ever in the first quarter of this year.
Thanks to strong prices, positioning, a strict fixed-cost approach and hedging valuations of raw materials, especially nickel and aluminum, Audi's operating profit in the first quarter of this year grew to 3.5 billion euros.
The decline rate has narrowed significantly, and the ability to resist pressure has been highlighted
Audi believes that due to the shortage of supply in China and the impact of the epidemic lockdown, the Group cannot meet the strong demand from consumers. Based on this, Audi sold a total of 385,084 new vehicles in the first quarter, down 16.8% (462,828 units) year-on-year. It is reported that due to external factors, some audi factories in Europe have been stopped many times, and the suspension of production will also bring significant losses to Audi, and the main models affected are Q4 e-tron, A4, A5, A6, A7, TT, Q7 and Q8, which will also directly affect the delivery of new cars in the second quarter.
Audi's sales in the Chinese market, including Hong Kong, were 161,621 units in the first quarter, down 22.1% year-on-year. However, the sales performance of pure electric vehicles under the Audi brand is remarkable.
In the first quarter of this year, Audi delivered a total of 24,236 pure electric models, an increase of 66% year-on-year, which accounted for 6.3% of Audi's total sales, the second-largest performance within the Volkswagen Group. Although the data is good and sales have increased significantly year-on-year, compared with the previous quarter, the situation is not very optimistic, and the delivery volume has dropped significantly. In addition, the plug-in hybrid model Audi did not disclose.
In terms of segments, the top two family electric models in terms of deliveries are the Audi Q4 e-tron/Q4 Sportback e-tron (10,700 units) and the Audi e-tron, Audi e-tron Sportback and the S version of the two models (10,300 units). It also means that the Audi e-tron GT/Audi RS e-tron GT has sold more than 3200 units.
Ducati, Lamborghini and Bentley performed strongly
The Current Audi Group includes Audi, Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati.
In the first three months of this year, the Lamborghini brand achieved a return on sales of 30% (a record high) of 592 million euros (Q1 2021: EUR 523 million) and an operating profit of EUR 178 million (Q1 2021: EUR 142 million), compared to 27.2% in the first quarter of 2021.
Bentley's first integration into the audi group finances was the main factor affecting the growth of financial figures, with revenues of €813 million (Q1 2021: EUR 578 million) and operating profit of €170 million (Q1 2021: EUR 65 million) in the first quarter of 2021, with an operating return on sales of 20.9% (Q1 2021: 11.2%).
Ducati's revenue increased by 14 percent, and audi group reported operating profit and return on operating sales of €25 million and 10.7 percent respectively (Q1 2021: €21 million; 10.5 percent).
Vorsprung 2030 Strategy takes a key step
The Vorsprung 2030 strategy lays the framework for Audi's growth over the next decade and accelerates the electrification transformation to ensure that Audi is an industry leader in sustainability, social corporate responsibility and technology by 2030. BEV sales in the first quarter of this year opened the door for Audi.
In the new energy vehicle market, Audi will continue to inject new blood. In 2022, SAIC Audi's new models will be launched one after another, in addition to the SAIC Audi Q6, audi launched the audi urbansphere in April this year, this concept car once again shows Audi's deep insight into the future.
With its large body size, the concept car forms the largest interior space in the history of the Audi brand. It is reported that the Audi Urbansphere is designed for level 4 autonomous driving and is a technology that Audi and the Volkswagen Group's software company CARIAD have worked hard to introduce in this century.
With the launch of models such as Q4 e-tron, Q5 e-tron and Audi e-tron GT, the brand's pure electric models in China will continue to be strengthened. At the same time, as part of Vorsprung's 2030 strategy, the Audi Group has also achieved initial success in integrating ESG (environmental, social and corporate governance) into its core business. After embedding ESG standards into group companies and decisions, Audi reports in accordance with the new EU classification regulations. In the first quarter, revenue that met the EU classification criteria accounted for 11.3% of the Audi Group's total revenue.
Considering the foreseeable consequences of the war in Ukraine and the closure of the Chinese epidemic so far, Audi Group has made a forecast for the fiscal year 2022, which is expected to deliver between 1.8 million and 1.9 million vehicles and expect revenues between 62 billion and 65 billion euros, with an operating margin of between 9-11%. Net cash flow is expected to be between €4.5 billion and €5.5 billion.
In the editor's view, Audi should be able to sell 100,000 + pure electric vehicles this year, according to Audi's plan, in the future Audi's pure electric vehicle models will triple, reaching more than 20 models, with the diversification of the product matrix rolled out, Audi's BEV delivery in 2022 or will be much more than 81,894 in 2021.