AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)04/18 Report--

In the first quarter of this year, Volkswagen Group (China) and its joint ventures delivered a total of 613900 new vehicles in China, down 35.1% year-on-year; Dr. Feng Sihan, CEO of Volkswagen China, said: "The Chinese auto market is rekindling vitality. We remain optimistic about a rapid recovery in China's auto market and look forward to a return to normalcy in early summer."

Volkswagen Group owns 12 brands, including Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Porsche and so on. Among them, Volkswagen brand (including Jetta brand) delivered 455800 vehicles in China in the first quarter, down 35.20% year-on-year; Audi brand delivered 113300 vehicles in the first quarter, down 28.88% year-on-year; Skoda brand delivered 29,000 vehicles in the first quarter, down 54.90% year-on-year; Porsche brand sold 14100 vehicles in China in the first quarter, down 16.5% year-on-year;

On the whole, the sales volume of Volkswagen brands in China shows a downward trend. Although the sales volume in China in the first quarter is not satisfactory, the production and sales of Volkswagen Group in China market have gradually got rid of the impact of the epidemic situation in April. At present, the production capacity of Volkswagen brand in China market has recovered to 75% of the level before the epidemic, and more than 2000 dealers under Volkswagen brand have resumed operation. The eighth generation golf, Viloran and other new car plans are also in progress. Feng Sihan also said: "With the joint efforts of the government and the industry, China's auto market will quickly recover strong development momentum." The key investment and new vehicle launch plan for 2020 will not change, and the new pure electric vehicle model based on MEB platform will be launched as scheduled in the second half of this year."

Although Volkswagen's market and sales in the Chinese market are gradually returning to normal, its situation in overseas markets is not optimistic. Volkswagen Group said in a statement on Thursday that the continuing pandemic of the new coronavirus epidemic had a significant impact on the group's business, with its car sales network almost stagnant, customer demand falling sharply and parts supply chains cut off. Due to the uncertainty of the epidemic development trend, comprehensive profit decline, revenue reduction, cash flow reduction and other factors, Volkswagen believes that 2020 expectations are impossible to achieve, decided to withdraw the previously issued 2020 outlook.

In the first quarter of this year, Volkswagen Group achieved operating income of approximately 55 billion euros.(about 422.873 billion yuan), compared with 60 billion euros in the same period last year (461.316 billion yuan) fell 8%; operating profit was 900 million euros (6.92 billion yuan), down 76.9% from 3.9 billion euros (29.986 billion yuan) in 2019; sales profit margin was about 1.6%, a huge gap from the previous 7.5% target; net cash flow for automobiles was-2.5 billion euros (19.222 billion yuan). Production and sales in several auto markets outside China have stagnated, with an estimated loss of 2 billion euros (15.806 billion yuan) per week.

However, Volkswagen plans to resume production at some plants next week as some countries gradually lift quarantine measures as the epidemic improves. Volkswagen said it would resume production at plants in Zwickau, Germany, and Bratislava, Slovakia, on April 20. Factories in Russia, Spain, Portugal and the United States will start ramping up production on April 27, while factories in South Africa, Argentina, Brazil and Mexico will start ramping up production in May.

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