Volkswagen posts 5.82 billion euro third-quarter loss on Porsche write-down

Third-quarter loss deepens

Volkswagen posted a net loss of 5.82 billion euros for July to September, against a loss of about 1.07 billion euros in the same quarter a year earlier. Revenue fell 6.3% to 75.3 billion euros over the quarter. For the first nine months, revenue reached 233.4 billion euros, slightly below the prior year, while operating profit shrank to 100 million euros from 5.4 billion euros in the same period of 2025. Chief Executive Oliver Blume had already cut the group's profit forecast sharply in September. Finance chief Arno Antlitz tied the figures to the need for fast action.

“The nine-month result clearly shows: we must not lose any time and have to act quickly and decisively.”

Porsche write-down and weaker sales

Special items totalled 7.8 billion euros in the summer quarter, and most of that comes from a write-down on the goodwill of the Porsche business. The impairment is put at about 6.4 billion euros, is non-cash, and still weighs heavily on the operating result. The group points to lower expectations for Porsche's future development. Porsche, once a profit driver for the group, has been in crisis for some time, hit by the China slump, US tariff policy and changes to its electric strategy, although its recent figures had stabilised. Other burdens named were a weak Chinese market, rising price and competition pressure worldwide, and a higher share of lower-margin electric cars. Deliveries in the third quarter came to 1.89 million vehicles in one count and 1.88 million in another, nearly 14.3% fewer than a year earlier.

Q3 2025-1.07

Q3 2026-5.82

Q3 2025

-1.07 billion euros

Q3 2026

-5.82 billion euros

Data from the article text

China slump and export pivot

In China, Volkswagen sold just under 406,000 vehicles in the third quarter, a fall of 38.5%. China chief Ralf Brandstätter, who also sits on the Group board, told Handelsblatt that consumers worry about their jobs and have little faith in the future. Market researchers put 2025 sales in the country at more than 24 million vehicles and expect fewer than 19 million in 2026. Brandstätter said Volkswagen does not expect a strong recovery next year and wants to hold an 11% market share over the long term.

“The overall market in China is in free fall.”

On Wednesday, 28 October, Brandstätter announced at the Hefei development centre in Anhui province that Volkswagen plans to export at least 300,000 China-made vehicles a year by 2030. The cars are to go to Asian countries and, for the first time, to South America, but not to Europe for now. Exports to Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan have already begun, and Mexico, Egypt, Vietnam and Australia are to follow. The Hefei centre, opened in 2023, employs about 3,000 Chinese staff and 200 people from abroad. Brandstätter also said the technology developed in China will increasingly be exported, built on electronics developed with XPeng and a driver assistance system developed with Horizon Robotics.

Jobs and profitability ahead

Talks with employee representatives on a further round of job cuts are under way before year-end, as Blume wants to reduce production capacity further. On a rough count, another 50,000 positions are at stake across the group, on top of 50,000 job losses already agreed through the end of the decade. Brandstätter, asked about profitability, said hardly anyone in the market still makes money. He declined to give concrete return targets for China.

“Hardly anyone still makes money in this market. This development does not pass us by without leaving a trace.”