FRANKFURT (dpa-AFX) - German carmaker Volkswagen has made a weaker start
to the new year due to problems in China and the launch of new
models.

Sales in the first quarter fell by 1% compared to the same period
last year to just under ?75.5 billion ($80.8 billion), the company
announced on Tuesday.

The operating result fell by a fifth to ?4.59 billion. The
corresponding operating margin fell by 1.4 percentage points to 6.1%
and was therefore below the targets for the year as a whole, as
already announced by management.

Group earnings after tax fell by almost 22% to ?3.71 billion. The
management led by chief executive Oliver Blume confirmed the annual
forecasts.

VW attributed the weaker operating result to lower sales volumes, a
less favourable sales mix for brands and models and higher fixed
costs. The market launch of new models at Porsche, a pearl of
profitability, and delivery bottlenecks at Audi weighed on the
group's figures.

By contrast, the group with the mass brands VW Passenger Cars, Seat,
Skoda and VW earned more than a year earlier.

'A strong March, the solid order bank and the improving order intake
in the past months are encouraging and should already have a positive
impact in the second quarter,' said VW chief financial officer Arno
Antlitz, according to the press release.

According to him, the savings and earnings programmes in the group's
brands should gradually take effect over the course of the year.


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