Volkswagen's quarterly loss edges past estimates as restructuring pressure mounts

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The carmaker kept its full-year forecast and said its plan to cut 100,000 jobs and halve its models must proceed without delay

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Volkswagen reported a third-quarter operating loss of 5.86 billion euros on Thursday as one-time charges and weakness in China deepened its losses while it presses ahead with a restructuring plan.

Revenue fell 6.3% to 75.28 billion euros, and the operating margin was negative 7.8%. A FactSet analyst poll had projected a shortfall of 5.79 billion euros at the operating level, with sales coming in at 78 billion euros, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The quarter carried one-time charges for asset writedowns, along with expenses from the intended divestment of the Osnabrück plant, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sluggish demand in China, intensifying price competition across the globe, and a bigger proportion of sales coming from thinner-margin EVs also weighed on results. It was Volkswagen's biggest single-quarter loss since the final three months of 2015, when the group was hit by costs from the "Dieselgate" emissions scandal, according to Reuters.

"The nine-month results make one thing clear: We cannot afford to lose any time and must act quickly and decisively," Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said, according to The Wall Street Journal. He also said "U.S. tariffs weigh on us, the Chinese market is shrinking, and competitive pressure in Europe is increasing significantly."

Antlitz said the company's electric models bring in smaller profits at present than its gasoline and diesel cars do, according to The Wall Street Journal. He told Reuters the business model must be fundamentally reshaped.

Third-quarter deliveries came in 14% lower, at 1.89 million vehicles. Volkswagen expects roughly 8.2 million deliveries for the full year, compared with 9 million in 2025, a drop it attributes chiefly to sharp falls in China.

Volkswagen kept its 2026 forecast, which targets Group turnover of roughly 315 billion euros and a margin on operations capped at 1% of sales. In the Automotive Division, it expects net cash flow of 3 billion to 6 billion euros and net liquidity of 32 billion to 34 billion euros. The company said the forecast assumes the current tariff situation stays unchanged and excludes any effects from a Middle East escalation, from Group Target $TGT Picture 2030 and from the sale of a majority stake in Everllence.

The guidance followed a September decision to cut the full-year profit outlook, which had called for an operating return on sales of 4% to 5.5%. Volkswagen cited about 10 billion euros in one-time charges, most of them linked to Porsche, along with U.S. tariffs and a weaker Chinese auto market.

The restructuring plan approved by the supervisory board in September doubles planned job losses to 100,000 and halves the model lineup, according to The Wall Street Journal. Reuters reported the plan also includes shutting as many as four German factories, and that a confrontation with labor representatives is on the horizon. Volkswagen had 648,000 workers on its payroll in September.

Volkswagen stock was up 1.7% on Thursday.

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