First Quarter: Volkswagen Group makes progress in a challenging environment – overhead costs reduced by one billion Euro, transformation to be accelerated further

“The world is undergoing fundamental change – and we are aligning our strategy consistently. Wars, geopolitical tensions, trade barriers, stricter regulations, and intense competition are creating headwinds. In this challenging environment, we have managed to make tangible progress. In the Passenger Cars and Light Commercial Vehicles segment, operating profit is up by around 43 per cent compared to the previous year.

Our product campaign is resonating with our customers. Our cost discipline is paying off. These achievements give us confidence. They form the foundation for further accelerating our transformation. At the same time, the financial result shows that, to improve and sustainably strengthen our competitiveness, we must consistently evolve our business model. We are aligning our products, technologies, and value creation even more closely with regional markets. Above all, our global business gives us decisive advantages in the race for innovation – on our way to becoming the global automotive tech driver.”
Oliver Blume, CEO Volkswagen Group

“We made further progress in the first quarter of 2026: order intake in Europe improved, our ‘In China, for China’ strategy is progressing, we reduced overhead costs by nearly 1 billion EUR, and net cash flow reached 2 billion EUR.

Despite this progress, our operating margin – even before special effects – remains far too low at 4.3 per cent. Since we launched the Volkswagen Future Program one and a half years ago, the world has changed significantly: tariffs have been imposed, competition in China continues to intensify, and Chinese players are increasingly exporting competitive pressure to Europe.

In this environment, the planned cost reductions are not enough. We must fundamentally transform our business model and achieve structural, sustainable improvements. This includes improving the cost structure of our vehicles without compromising product substance, significantly reducing overhead costs, increasing the efficiency of our plants, and accelerating technology development and decision-making.

We can only achieve this by significantly reducing complexity – in our product portfolio and technology platforms, as well as in the number of entities and decision-making layers. This is what we will focus on in the coming months.”
Arno Antlitz, CFO and COO Volkswagen Group

75.7 billion EUR in sales revenue
in Q1 2026, 2% below Q1 2025
(77.6 billion EUR)

Volume-driven revenue decline partly offset by strong business in Europe and growth in the financial services business.

2.5 billion EUR Operating Result
 in Q1 2026, 14.3% below Q1 2025 (2.9 billion EUR);
operating return on sales of 3.3% (3.7%)

Decline in Operating Result mainly due to special effects in the Brand Group Core, Brand Group Trucks, and higher US tariffs.

2.0 million vehicle sales
in Q1 2026, 7% below Q1 2025 (2.1 million)

Growth in South America (+3%), Western Europe (+1%) and Central and Eastern Europe (+7%) only partially offsets declines in China (-20%) and North America (-9%).

Order bank in Europe up
by around 15% compared to year-end 2025

Trucks

CARIAD

Group Mobility

Q1

2026

2025

%

Volume Data¹ in thousands

Deliveries to customers (units)

2,049

2,134

-4.0

Vehicle sales (units)

1,954

2,100

-6.9

Production (units)

2,157

2,194

-1.7

Employees (on Mar. 31, 2026 / Dec. 31, 2025)

657.4

662.9

-0.8

Financial Data (IFRS), € million

Sales revenue

75,657

77,558

-2.5

Operating result

2,463

2,873

-14.3

     Operating return on sales (%)

3.3

3.7

Earnings before tax

2,235

3,109

-28.4

     Return on sales before tax (%)

3.0

4.0

Earnings after tax

1,564

2,186

-28.4

Automotive Division

Cash flows from operating activities

6,662

4,696

+41.9

Cash flows from investing activities attributable to operating activities²

4,669

5,524

-15.5

Net cash flow

1,993

-828

Net liquidity at March 31

34,237

33,180

3.2

Investment ratio

11.3

11.2

1)   The figures also include the equity-accounted Chinese joint ventures. Prior-year deliveries have been updated to reflect subsequent statistical trends.

2)   Excluding acquisition and disposal of equity investments: Q1 EUR -4,823 (-4,834) million.

Vehicle sales

Sales revenue

Operating result

Operating margin

Thousand vehicles/
€ million

2026

2025

2026

2025

2026

2025

2026

2025

Core brand group

1,227

1,224

34,874

35,340

1,541

1,118

4.4

3.2

Progressive brand group

260

277

14,178

15,431

588

537

4.2

3.5

Sport Luxury brand group¹

59

65

7,381

7,819

517

678

7.0

8.7

CARIAD

–

–

389

237

-420

-755

–

–

Battery

–

–

12

2

-230

-213

–

–

Brand group Trucks

69

73

9,780

10,326

40

640

0.4

6.2

Equity-accounted
companies in China²

494

610

–

–

–

–

–

–

Volkswagen Group Mobility

–

–

15,831

14,866

868

948

5.5

6.4

Other³

-155

-149

-6,788

-6,464

-441

-81

-

-

Volkswagen Group

1,954

2,100

75,657

77,558

2,463

2,873

3.3

3.7

1)  Including Porsche Financial Services: sales revenue EUR 8,400 (8,858) million, operating result EUR 595 (762) million.

2)  The sales revenue and operating result of the equity-accounted companies in China are not included in the consolidated figures; the share of the operating result generated by these companies amounted to EUR 83 (272) million.

3)  In the operating result, mainly intragroup items recognised in profit or loss, in particular from the elimination of intercompany profits; the figure includes depreciation and amortisation of identifiable assets as part of purchase price allocation, as well as companies not allocated to the brands.