Volkswagen Brand Group Core Strengthens Resilience and Performance
The Volkswagen, Škoda, SEAT/CUPRA, and Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brands worked closely together during the past fiscal year. Jointly optimized processes strengthened the resilience of the Brand Group Core. Despite essential restructuring — particularly at the Volkswagen brand — the Brand Group reported a solid operating result of around €7 billion in a challenging market environment. The successful execution of model ramp-ups, combined with moderate increases in vehicle sales and revenue, highlights the enhanced resilience of the Brand Group in the face of external challenges.
“Our independent core brands make us strong and innovative as a group. Together, we are not only improving but also becoming more efficient in key future areas such as battery costs, development times, and software quality. The strong financial results in the challenging 2024 fiscal year confirm that our strategy is working.
Soon, we will literally be putting our full power on the road with the Electric Urban Car Family — proving that it is possible to design and build affordable compact electric vehicles in Europe, each with the distinctive appeal of its own brand. Only the Brand Group Core can achieve this.”Thomas Schäfer, Member of the Group Board of Management, CEO of the Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand, and Head of the Brand Group Core
Key Figures (January–December 2024)
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Vehicle sales: 4.96 million (2023: 4.83 million)
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Sales revenue: €140.0 billion (2023: €137.8 billion)
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Operating result: €6.96 billion (2023: €7.27 billion)
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Operating margin: 5.0% after restructuring (2023: 5.3%)
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Net cash flow: €4.68 billion (2023: €5.63 billion)
Brand Group Core vehicle sales rose 2.8% year-on-year, increasing overall market share. Despite an intensely competitive environment, sales revenue grew 1.6%, driven by a favorable model mix and higher vehicle sales at the Volkswagen brand.
Restructuring expenses and higher fixed costs weighed on results, though these were partially offset by volume and mix effects, optimized material costs, and the reversal of personnel-related provisions due to the collective bargaining agreement.
Net cash flow declined by €0.9 billion, primarily due to higher inventories associated with multiple model ramp-ups and increased investments to secure the Group’s long-term competitiveness.
Review
The Brand Group Core represents strong individual brands, each targeting distinct customer segments. In 2024, the volume brands increased their European market share by 0.9 percentage points to 20.1%, supported by new model launches. The Group’s ability to grow both vehicle sales and market share in a challenging environment underscores the appeal of its current model lineup and the effectiveness of cross-brand coordination.
“Despite fierce competition and difficult global developments, the Volkswagen brand achieved a solid overall result in the 2024 fiscal year. Vehicle sales and revenues were higher than the previous year. However, restructuring costs had a significant impact on our performance. Overall, 2024 marked a turning point — we are now consistently working to make our business more cost-efficient and achieve sustainable success.”
David Powels, Member of the Board of Management of the Volkswagen brand, responsible for Finance, and Head of Finance for the Brand Group Core
The Volkswagen brand maintained its strength in a tough market. Weaker demand — particularly for electric vehicles early in the year — led to higher purchase incentives, while numerous model launches temporarily impacted profitability. Through its efficiency program, Volkswagen optimized its cost-performance ratio, reduced product costs, and streamlined overhead structures.
For example, factory costs per vehicle at Volkswagen brand plants were 3% lower than the previous year, partly due to optimized shift structures. Additionally, resources were redirected toward reducing administrative costs to further improve efficiency and competitiveness.
Outlook
The Brand Group Core continues to strengthen collaboration among its brands. In the coming years, the Group will focus on further improving efficiency and expanding cross-brand cooperation. Its global production network of 22 sites will be organized into five manufacturing regions, leveraging synergies and regional cost advantages to enhance efficiency and future readiness.
The number of country clusters for technical development will also be reduced across all brands to respond more effectively to market requirements and customer needs. In parallel, development times for new vehicles will be shortened to enable quicker responses to market changes.
Development of the Electric Urban Car Family is progressing rapidly across all brands. Led by SEAT/CUPRA, the Brand Group Core will launch affordable electric cars in the €25,000 range starting in 2026. The four models — two from Volkswagen, one from CUPRA, and one from Škoda — will be produced at the Group’s Spanish plants in Martorell and Pamplona. This project is expected to unlock synergy potential of around €650 million over its product lifecycle.
The “Zukunft Volkswagen” program, agreed at the end of 2024, lays the foundation for Volkswagen AG’s future competitiveness in Germany. The initiative combines financial stability with sustainable employment and positions Volkswagen — the core pillar of the Brand Group — to become the world’s leading volume manufacturer in technology by 2030.
As part of this strategy, the Brand Group Core aims for continuous profit growth in the coming years, supported by efficiency programs across all volume brands. Intensive implementation efforts are underway to achieve a medium-term return on sales of 8%.
Brand Summaries
Volkswagen Passenger Cars
Volkswagen Passenger Cars delivered 3,109,007 vehicles (excluding China, including external production) in 2024 — an increase of 3.1% year-on-year. The rise was partly due to improved sales of ID. models in the second half of the year.
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Sales revenue: €88.26 billion
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Operating result: €2.59 billion (–27%)
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Operating margin: 2.9% (2023: 4.1%)
Škoda Auto
Škoda Auto reported its best fiscal year ever in 2024.
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Deliveries: 926,600 vehicles (+6.9%)
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Operating result: €2.3 billion (+30%)
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Operating margin: 8.3%
The strong results reflect the success of the “Next Level Performance+” program and Škoda’s overall financial resilience — providing a strong foundation for managing the industry’s ongoing transformation.
SEAT/CUPRA
SEAT/CUPRA achieved 5.9% volume growth, delivering 636,807 vehicles.
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Sales revenue: €14.53 billion (+1.4%)
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Operating result: €633 million (+1.3%)
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Operating margin: 4.4% (unchanged)
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWN)
Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles delivered 404,412 vehicles in 2024 (–4.3%), reflecting the transition to the new Transporter model, now joining the Multivan and ID. Buzz.
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Sales revenue: €15.1 billion (–1.3%)
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Operating result: €743 million (–14.9%)
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Operating margin: 4.9% (2023: 5.7%)