The Audi Group delivered 1,180,748 (2012: 1,097,507) cars with the four rings in the first three quarters of 2013.
As a result, the Ingolstadt-based company generated sales revenues of €36,965 (2012: €37,667) million and an operating profit of €3,743 (2012: €4,197) million. The Audi Group thus achieved an operating return on sales of 10.1 (2012: 11.1) percent.
"We are making high upfront expenditures and investments now and in upcoming years in order to create an even stronger global position for Audi," declared Axel Strotbek, Board Member for Finance and Organization, commenting on the Q3 results for AUDI AG. He added that the company is following a sustainable growth strategy, which can only be successfully implemented by means of both substantial upfront expenditures in new products and technologies as well as an expanded production network. Therefore, the Audi Group launched the largest investment program in its history at the beginning of this year and will invest an average of over €3.5 billion every year until 2015.
After nine months of the year, the company has already delivered 1,180,748 (2012: 1,097,507) cars of the Audi brand to customers - an increase of 7.6 percent. With these unit sales, the Audi Group generated revenue of €36,965 (2012: €37,667) million. This can primarily be attributed to strong demand for models of the new A3 family and dynamic growth in Asia and North America. At the same time, mix effects - particularly due to declining demand in the Western European countries affected by sovereign debt crises - and currency effects had a negative impact on revenue development, which at the end of September was 1.9 percent lower than the high level of the previous year.
Operating profit decreased to €3,743 (2012: €4,197) million as a result of high upfront expenditures for new products and technologies, and the expansion of the international production network. In June, production of the new A3 Sedan began in Gyor, Hungary. For this purpose, Audi has expanded the existing site into a full-fledged car production plant. At the end of the year, the second plant in China will be put into operation in the city of Foshan. The company is also preparing the production launch of the A3 Sedan and the Q3 in Brazil, and is building a completely new production site in Mexico.
Nevertheless, the operating return on sales of 10.1 (2012: 11.1) percent after nine months is still slightly over the strategic target corridor of eight to ten percent.
Before tax, the Audi Group generated €4,270 (2012: €4,764) million in the first nine months of the year, thus achieving a return on sales before taxes of 11.6 (2012: 12.6) percent. Group profit after tax amounted to €3,132 (2012: €3,421) million.
In the third quarter of the current fiscal year, the brand with the four rings delivered 400,281 (2012: 364,291) cars to customers. As a result, the Audi Group generated revenue of €11,731 (2012: €12,645) million. Operating profit was
€1,100 (2012: €1,325) million. The operating return on sales amounted to
9.4 (2012: 10.5) percent.
The Audi Group plans to increase deliveries of the Audi brand for 2013 as a whole to over 1.5 million cars. As a result of the increased volume of deliveries, the company anticipates that revenue will be slightly up on the previous year. Despite more substantial upfront expenditures for expanding the international production network and higher expenditures for products and technologies - mainly to meet stricter regulations worldwide for carbon emissions - the Ingolstadt-based company plans to achieve an operating return on sales at the upper end of the strategic corridor of eight to ten percent.
