Audi Earnings Drop 91% On Weak Sales In Key Markets

Volkswagen AG’s Audi-led premium brands barely eked out an operating profit in the third quarter after waning luxury spending in China and a plant restructuring in Brussels dragged on returns.

 

Operating earnings slumped 91% to €106 million ($115 million) in the three months through September, the group said Tuesday. Deliveries of the Audi brand in the first nine months of the year fell in markets including Europe, China and the US.

 

Volkswagen’s premium brand group — which also includes Lamborghini, Bentley and motorbike maker Ducati — is facing intensifying competition in China, where buyers gravitate toward local models. A €1.2 billion one-time charge to cover restructuring expenses for an Audi plant in Brussels also weighed on the results.