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 percent 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.”

“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 percent. 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.”