by A Volkswagen car factory is located on October 28, 2024 in Osnabrück, Germany.
Sean Gallup | Getty Images
German automaker Volkswagen announced a 42% drop in third-quarter operating profit on Wednesday.
Operating profit fell to 2.86 billion euros ($3.1 billion), while third-quarter revenue fell 0.5 percent year-on-year to around 78.5 billion euros.
Vehicle sales fell 8.3% in the third quarter of 2024 compared to the same period a year earlier, Volkswagen said.
The Volkswagen Group’s net liquidity amounted to a negative amount of 160.6 billion euros at the end of September 2024, the press release said. The company’s net liquidity amounts to -€147.4 billion at the end of 2023.
The third-quarter results come after Volkswagen last month lowered its annual outlook for 2024 for the second time in just a few months. The automaker then announced that it expected a profit margin of around 5.6% for the year, as well as a 0.7% drop in sales.
Volkswagen has been in a sticky situation in recent months, warning of possible factory closures in Germany and canceling a series of labor agreements with local workers in September. The company also announced it would end its job protection agreement, in place for its German workforce since 1994.
On Monday, Volkswagen’s works council said the company’s management planned widespread pay cuts and layoffs, as well as closing or reducing the size of all its German plants.
In response, Volkswagen reiterated the need for restructuring and said it would present plans to reduce labor costs during a round of labor agreement negotiations, which also take place on Wednesday.
This breaking news story is currently being updated.
