VW sports great numbers with the new CC and Porsche’s profits go ballistic!
HERNDON, Va.—Volkswagen of America, Inc. today announced March 2009 sales of 15,720 units, a 19.7 percent decrease over March 2008 sale of 19,587 units.Volkswagen’s stylish new CC, designed to blend sports car dynamics and dimensions with sedan comfort, posted its best sales month ever with more than 2,300 units sold.“Volkswagen is encouraged by how well our new products sold in March” said Mark Barnes, Chief Operating Officer, Volkswagen of America, Inc. “Our stylish CC posted its best sales month ever for the third month in a row, and our seven passenger minivan, Routan, doubled its sales over last month. Our 50-state compliant clean diesel Jetta and Jetta SportWagen continue to sell well. Next month our clean diesel luxury SUV, Touareg TDI, will be available in dealer showrooms across the U.S. We’re also eagerly awaiting the arrival of our all-new Golf later this year, which will also be available with our innovative clean diesel engine,” added Barnes.
Porsche has posted spectacular pre-tax profits of €7.34bn (£6.82bn) for the first half of the German financial year, which runs from August to the end of January.
The profits for the period between 1 August 2008 and 31 January 2009 compare very favourably with the €1.6bn (£1.48bn) profit that Porsche recorded for the same period the previous year.
Porsche is at pains to point out, however, that the bulk of these profits have been driven by Porsche’s cash-settled share options in VW. The contribution of these to Porsche’s balance sheets increased from €850m (£790m) in the first half of the 2007/2008 German financial year to a whopping €6.84bn (£6.36bn) for the same period a year later.
Since this contribution depends on the price of VW shares, Porsche has warned that its profits could yet evaporate by the end of the business year if VW’s share price fails to perform well.
Elsewhere Porsche’s balance sheet doesn’t look quite so rosy. Sales fell by more than a quarter in the first half year. Surprisingly, the Porsche Cayman took the biggest hit, with sales falling by more than 60 per cent to just 3950 units.
(Source: Autocar/Porsche)