New employment opportunity at Audi, a division of Volkswagen Group!
In the first half of 2023, German automaker Audi experienced a significant 37.5% decline in profits, dropping from 4.4 billion euros in 2022 to 1.3 billion euros. This decline is primarily attributed to increased US tariffs, restructuring costs, and other operational challenges.
The increased US tariffs have burdened Audi with around 600 million euros in the first half, as stated by the company's CFO, Jürgen Rittersberger. Audi, unlike competitor BMW, does not have its own plant in the US, and these additional costs have not been passed on to its U.S. customers.
Audi is currently undergoing a corporate overhaul, which typically incurs significant expenses and has impacted the company's short-term profitability. Additional operational challenges, such as softening market conditions or regional sales variations, have also weighed on profitability.
Despite these challenges, Audi remains optimistic about the future. The company is aiming to save more than one billion euros per year in the long term as part of its transformation. Audi also hopes that new models coming up in China will help address the fierce price competition in the electric vehicle sector.
In terms of the EU's trade agreement with the US, Audi is currently evaluating the agreement, with no details or written information available yet. The EU's trade agreement with the US has not yet been factored into Audi's current forecast.
Sales shrank in the first half, particularly in China and the US, which are currently challenging markets for many automakers. As a result, Audi has lowered its forecast for the current year, with revenue expectations shrinking by 2.5 billion euros to 65 to 70 billion euros.
Rittersberger stated that the company is pleased to have some planning certainty, but the company must "push ahead full speed" with the initiated transformation to ensure long-term success. Audi has already made provisions for the 7,500 job cuts announced in the spring, with these provisions burdening the first-half result with 600 million euros.
- The increased US tariffs have resulted in around 600 million euros of additional costs for Audi in the first half, as mentioned by the company's CFO, Jürgen Rittersberger, highlighting the impact of finance and trade elements within the industry.
- Audi is aiming to save over one billion euros per year in the long term as part of its transformation, demonstrating the company's intention to significantly restructure its financial stance while also focusing on the automotive sector.
