Audi sticks to profit margin goal despite higher costs of growth
GERMAN luxury-car maker Audi stuck to its full-year profit target yesterday even as higher costs of plants and technology inflicted a double-digit drop in third-quarter earnings.
Audi reaffirmed its goal to achieve an operating profit margin at the upper end of a target range between eight per cent and 10 per cent this year, even as third-quarter operating profit plunged 17 per cent to €1.1bn (£931m).
Profit from Audi, which accounts for about 40 per cent of VW group operating earnings, funds the parent’s drive to surpass General Motors and Toyota as the world’s biggest car-maker by 2018.
Audi’s third-quarter operating margin of 9.4 per cent beat the 7.3 per cent return on sales at Mercedes. BMW will report third-quarter figures today.