Audi posts growth in deliveries, revenue and earnings for first three quarters

In the first nine months of this year, the Audi Group increased deliveries of its core brand by 3.8 percent. From January through September, more than 1.3 million customers received an deliveries of the automobile with the four rings. The revenue increased to €43.7 billion and operating profit rose to €4 billion. The operating return on sales for the first three quarters of the year was 9.2 percent.

At the announcement of the interim results for the third quarter, Rupert Stadler, chairman of the board of management of Audi AG, stated, “We are continuing along our growth path. We are increasing our deliveries, expanding our international production network, safeguarding jobs and actually continuing to recruit more employees.”

In 2016, Audi will also put a completely new production plant into operation in San José Chiapa, Mexico.

Axel Strotbek, member of the board of management of Audi AG for finance and organization, commented, “Audi achieved good earnings in a challenging environment despite high levels of advance expenditure.”

Following the successful start of the new premium SUV, the Audi Q7, the company will now bring the next generation of its bestseller, the new Audi A4 and A4 Avant, into the dealerships, thus continuing the success story of the Ingolstadt‑based automobile manufacturer.

In the first nine months of this year, the company delivered 1,347,972 automobiles of the Audi brand to customers – up 3.8 percent (2014: 1,298,638). The Audi Group achieved total revenue for the period of €43,695 million (Q1‑Q3 2014: €39,300 million). The revenue was boosted in particular by strong demand for SUV models as well as by growth in North America and Western Europe.

The Audi Group’s operating profit for the period of January through September increased by 5 percent to €4,024 million (Q1‑Q3 2014: €3,831 million), primarily due to the positive development of deliveries. However, the earnings were negatively impacted by further increases in advance expenditure for new models and innovative technologies and the ongoing expansion of the worldwide production network. The operating return on sales for the first nine months was 9.2 percent (Q1‑Q3 2014: 9.7 percent).

In the first three quarters of this year, the Audi group achieved an EBT of €4,249 million (Q1 - Q3 2014: €4,568 million), resulting in a return on sals before tax of 9.7 percent (Q1 - Q3 2014: 11.6 percent). The net proft amounted to €3,284 million (Q1 - Q3 2014: €3,435 million).

From July through September 2015, the carmaker delivered 445,642 automobiles to customers (Q3 2014: 429,281). The Group achieved third‑quarter revenue of €13,911 million (Q3 2014: €12,610 million) and an operating profit of €1,110 million (Q3 2014: €1,160 million). Meanwhile, the company is also preparing numerous generation changes for important models and markets, equivalent to approximately 40 percent of worldwide unit sales. Against this backdrop, the operating return on sales for the third quarter was 8 percent (Q3 2014: 9.2 percent).