Bentley and Seat, the only money losers in VW Group during first nine months
By Andrew, 29 Oct, 2010. 0 Comments
2011 Bentley Mulsanne
In the first nine months of the year, Volkswagen AG's Bentley and Seat units were the only money losers in VW Group. Despite boosting unit sales by 29.9%, the UK-based Bentley ultraluxury marque's operating loss was 145 million euros ($200 million). This was slightly lower than the 148 million recorded for the same period last year. Seat brand made a profit because the passenger car market had recovered, with unit sales rising by 10.6% to 260,000. This boost had aided in reducing the Spanish brand's operating loss to 218 million euros from 228 million euros.
Audi nearly doubled its operating profit to 2.3 billion euros, strengthened by a 13.6% rise in unit sales to 968,000. In a statement, VW said that the figures for the Lamborghini brand, which are included in the key figures for the Audi brand, also displayed “a positive development.” The core VW passenger car brand buoyed up unit sales by 11.8% to 2.8 million euros. Furthermore, its operating profit also improved to 1.6 billion euros from 300 million euros.
VW said that the growth had been influenced by demand for the Polo, New Beetle, Tiguan, Touareg, Jetta and Passat models. Skoda's operating profit increased to 314 million euros from 162 million euros, with unit sales increasing by 4.3% in the first three quarters to 426,000. The high demand for the Octavia, Superb and Yeti models was cited for having increased sales significantly. [via autonews - sub. required]
Latest Auto Shows
