On March 15, 2022, the Volkswagen Group held its 2022 annual media conference. The Volkswagen Group expects that the Volkswagen Group's global car sales will increase by 5% to 10% in the face of a gradual improvement in chip supply.
Volkswagen Group CEO Diess
In the face of the unstable situation in Europe, Volkswagen Group CEO Diess first stressed in front of the global media that the Volkswagen Group has raised more than 900,000 euros for relevant institutions and enterprises and provided necessary material needs. "We have had to suspend production at the relevant factories in Russia, while we pay 80% of the salaries of our employees in Russia and will also provide the necessary support to our Russian wiring harness suppliers," Dies said. It is reported that the Volkswagen Group has set up a special working group to respond to the crisis and transfer production capacity to the Chinese and American markets.
In 2021, the Volkswagen Group's sales revenue increased by 12% to more than 250 billion euros. In Diess' view, such results are quite solid.
Arno Antlitz, CFO of Volkswagen Group, explained that volkswagen group operating profits of more than 20 billion euros last year were due to the rich product lineup, and Volkswagen has taken important steps towards software research and development and electrification.
Arno Antlitz stressed that it has to be pointed out that Volkswagen has paid 800 million euros for this because of emission problems that have occurred in the past. Overall, Volkswagen is working hard to keep costs under control to deal with all issues.
Volkswagen Group CFO Arno Antlitz
In China, the Volkswagen Group's business still maintains a good profit margin, and still occupies 16% of the market share in China despite the severe shortage of chip supply.
In Europe, volkswagen group electric vehicle business momentum is strong, on average, 1 in every 4 electric vehicles is produced by the Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen occupies 25% of the European electric vehicle market. Porsche Taycan sales in Europe have surpassed the Porsche 911.
In the Americas, the Volkswagen Group launched an SUV offensive, increasing cost optimization and brand investment, and realizing that 90% of Volkswagen brand models were locally produced in North America. In the U.S. market, volkswagen group was once unable to make a profit, last year after the acquisition of the American truck brand Navistar, Volkswagen in the North American truck market to establish a foothold and achieve profitability, while the South American market also achieved a turnaround, the Canadian market also achieved profitability. In terms of electric vehicles, Volkswagen has occupied 8% of the electric vehicle market in the United States, and the ID.4 reached 17,000 units last year. "In four months, the ID.4 will be produced locally in the United States." Dees said.
From the perspective of brands, profit margins have their own advantages. The profit margin of the Volkswagen brand reached 3.3% last year, and the Skoda brand reached 6.1%; the capacity utilization rate of the Audi brand, although relatively low, also reached 10.5%; Bentley achieved a high profit margin of 13.7%,; and Porsche had the highest, with a profit margin of 16.5%.
Dies said that the Volkswagen Group now has the ability to provide electric models corresponding to all its fuel vehicles, and more ID. family models will be listed next. MEB is about to be implemented for use by third parties. The Volkswagen Group confirmed its cooperation with Ford, which will use the MEB platform to start production at its plant in Cologne, Germany, with a planned production capacity of 1.2 million units. Ford's second all-electric model uses the MEB platform. In addition, volkswagen group will invest 2 billion euros in the new project Trinity to build a new R&D center and plant in Wolfsburg.
At present, volkswagen group is firmly transforming into a technology travel service group, the upstream supply chain will continue to increase investment in the battery field, in addition to the identified three major battery factories in Germany, Sweden and Spain, it will also be selected for the fourth battery plant in Eastern Europe. It is reported that Volkswagen invested more than 1.7 billion euros in the battery field last year, including a stake in Guoxuan Hi-Tech from China.
For 2022, Arno Antlitz predicts that in the case of a gradual improvement in chip supply, the Volkswagen Group's global car sales will increase by 5%-10%, of which electric vehicle sales will account for 7%-8% of total sales; sales revenue will reach 8%-13%; and profit margins will remain between 7%-8.5%.
Arno Antlitz said: "The Volkswagen Group will continue to play the synergy between its brands, and now the Group has achieved the goal of an overall reduction in indirect costs by 10% ahead of schedule (originally planned to be achieved in 2025), and the next step will be the IPO of Porsche, which has maintained relative independence and provided technical support to the Volkswagen Group, and looks forward to the successful completion of the listing in the fourth quarter." ”
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