Car industry Audi bounces back in the second quarter

The second quarter was anything but brilliant for Audi, but compared to the very weak start to the year, the VW subsidiary has improved significantly. Nevertheless, it is lowering its profit expectations.

In the first half of the year, Audi made around 1.1 billion euros less profit, while turnover slumped by 3.2 billion euros, as the German car manufacturer announced. As bitter as these figures are at first glance: They show a clear upward trend, as Audi had already reported declines after the first quarter, which were only marginally lower in total.

Turnover in the second quarter was therefore almost at the previous year's level, with profits only slightly lower. CFO Jürgen Rittersberger also emphasized: "The second quarter was significantly better than the first quarter. We were able to catch up."

This was partly due to the fact that supply problems for parts for the large V6 and V8 engines, which are usually installed in more expensive and higher-yielding cars, eased in the second quarter. Rittersberger said that supplies were now "very good again".

He expects production to return to normal in the third quarter, which will help the Group not only in terms of vehicle volume but also in terms of earnings. In concrete terms, turnover in the first half of the year amounted to 30.9 billion euros, with a profit of just under 2.2 billion euros.

Forecast lowered

Nevertheless, Audi has lowered its profit expectations for the year as a whole. The forecast for the operating return on sales is now 6 to 8 percent - instead of 8 to 10 percent.

According to Rittersberger, the reason for this is the cost of restructuring in Brussels. The entire plant there is on the brink of collapse - among other things because the electric models produced there may be discontinued prematurely. However, Audi did not provide any further details about Brussels at this time.

Overall, Audi is still in a "year of transition", said Rittersberger - as was already the case after the first quarter. However, he expects significant improvements thanks to numerous new models that are gradually being introduced. These should then also give the recently sluggish growth in electric cars a "decent boost" from the fourth quarter and especially in the coming year.

However, Audi does not want to get involved in the current price competition for electric cars in China. This is "ruinous", said the CFO.