As of 9:35 AM IST, Friday 30 October 2026. Volkswagen Group reported on Thursday 29 October. EUR-to-USD conversions are as given by Reuters.
Volkswagen Group swung to an operating loss of about EUR 5.9 billion ($6.6 billion) in the third quarter, far deeper than analysts expected, after a multibillion-euro writedown on Porsche and charges linked to China. Reuters said it was the carmaker's largest quarterly deficit since the Dieselgate emissions scandal in late 2015. Finance chief Arno Antlitz said the results showed the business model must change fast.
The quarter in numbers
| Metric | Q3 2026 | Comparison |
|---|---|---|
| Operating result | EUR -5.86 billion | Forecast about EUR -2.6 billion (Visible Alpha); EUR -1.3 billion a year ago |
| Revenue | EUR 75.3 billion | Down 6.3% |
| Earnings after tax | EUR -5.82 billion | |
| Deliveries | 1.885 million vehicles | Down 14.3% |
Where the loss came from
Special items reached EUR 8.7 billion over the first nine months, EUR 7.8 billion of it in the third quarter. The biggest piece is a non-cash goodwill impairment of EUR 6.4 billion on Porsche. Volkswagen also booked roughly EUR 1 billion of impairments related to China and costs tied to the planned sale of its Osnabrueck plant. Earlier in October the group had already flagged around EUR 10 billion of one-off charges and cut its margin guidance.
Nine-month picture
- Revenue of EUR 233.4 billion.
- Operating result of EUR 0.1 billion, against EUR 5.4 billion a year earlier. Before special items it was EUR 8.8 billion, a 3.8% margin.
- Vehicle sales of 5.9 million, down 11%.
- Net liquidity of EUR 33.0 billion.
- Electric cars make up about 40% of the European order bank, and the new Electric Urban Car Family has about 150,000 orders.
Outlook and restructuring
Volkswagen expects 2026 revenue of about EUR 315 billion and an operating return of up to 1%. That outlook excludes the effects of any further escalation in the Middle East. The group is running a cost programme of about EUR 31 billion, and the restructuring plan agreed in September includes 100,000 job cuts and up to four plant closures in Germany.
"We cannot afford to lose any time," Antlitz said. "We must fundamentally reshape our business model." He added: "Our financial performance leaves no room for delay."
How investors took it
The shares initially fell, then turned higher, up 1.7% by 1100 GMT on Thursday, Reuters reported, as much of the bad news had been flagged in advance. "VW is in a transitional year," Deka's Ingo Speich told Reuters, while an analyst at Union Investment warned that further writedowns are possible.
Disclaimer: This article is for information only and is not financial or investment advice.
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