Photo: Volkswagen
We're two months away from celebrating one year since the emissions cheating scandal involving Volkswagen broke out, and yet the company still hasn't completely dealt with problems it raised.
However, that didn't stop it from registering a seven percent rise in its profits over the first half of the year, compared to the same period of 2015. This result is even more impressive when you think that back in the summer of 2015, the Volkswagen Group briefly sat in the first place in the global sales chart, overthrowing Japanese carmaker Toyota.
However, the figure could be a little misleading, since the overall earnings dropped by 22 percent. This seemingly impossible situation was achieved through massive cost cutting at the Group's namesake brand, greatly reducing the expenses. The fact that Volkswagen managed to register a profit under the current circumstances is a great testimonial for the new managerial team that seems not only to have kept the company floating, but almost steer it out of the rough waters.
Rising European sales have also played their part, as well as a return of orders from large corporate fleets who seemingly believed that enough time had passed since the Dieselgate scandal and were ready to associate their company's image with that of Volkswagen once more.
“The numbers show a historic record result in the second quarter, and that’s just spectacular considering the headwinds VW faces with declining revenues and all the woes triggered by the diesel scandal,” Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Metzler Bank told Automotive News. “Efficiency gains at the VW brand seem to be the key driver, and the speed at which this industrial behemoth is changing to achieve this is remarkable.”
The wind of change is definitely strong at Volkswagen with the company determined to give electricity a go over the next years. It was announced that Volkswagen would launch over 30 all-electric models by 2025 across all of the Group's brands, while the company also seems determined to build its own two billion euro battery factory. If that's not commitment, then we don't know what is.
However, the figure could be a little misleading, since the overall earnings dropped by 22 percent. This seemingly impossible situation was achieved through massive cost cutting at the Group's namesake brand, greatly reducing the expenses. The fact that Volkswagen managed to register a profit under the current circumstances is a great testimonial for the new managerial team that seems not only to have kept the company floating, but almost steer it out of the rough waters.
Rising European sales have also played their part, as well as a return of orders from large corporate fleets who seemingly believed that enough time had passed since the Dieselgate scandal and were ready to associate their company's image with that of Volkswagen once more.
“The numbers show a historic record result in the second quarter, and that’s just spectacular considering the headwinds VW faces with declining revenues and all the woes triggered by the diesel scandal,” Juergen Pieper, a Frankfurt-based analyst at Metzler Bank told Automotive News. “Efficiency gains at the VW brand seem to be the key driver, and the speed at which this industrial behemoth is changing to achieve this is remarkable.”
The wind of change is definitely strong at Volkswagen with the company determined to give electricity a go over the next years. It was announced that Volkswagen would launch over 30 all-electric models by 2025 across all of the Group's brands, while the company also seems determined to build its own two billion euro battery factory. If that's not commitment, then we don't know what is.
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