Brand Group Core records higher unit sales and sales revenue – special factors impact profitability – AutoMart Canada

Review Q1 / 2025

The Brand Group Core recorded successful market launches and a significant rise in the sale of all-electric models in the first quarter of 2025, thereby demonstrating its strength and adaptability in a highly demanding market environment.

The successful introduction of new models such as the Volkswagen Tayron and the Škoda Elroq further strengthened the portfolio and underscored the brands’ ability to serve customers’ needs and requirements.

Overall, the start to the year was influenced by the negative effects of CO₂ regulations in Europe, import duties in the United States, and costs relating to the diesel issue.

Outlook
Despite the present challenges, the Brand Group Core is steadily growing closer together – in the coming years, the brand group will focus on consistently increasing efficiency by expanding cooperation in jointly-agreed strategic fields of action.

Going forward, the brand group’s global production network of 22 locations will be organized in five production regions with a view to fostering stronger networking. Production will be more efficient and future-oriented, and cross-brand synergies and regional cost advantages will be leveraged.

The number of country clusters for technical development will also be reduced across all brands. Market requirements and customer wishes will be taken into account more effectively and efficiently in future. Furthermore, development times for new vehicles will be shortened to enable a faster response to market changes.

Cooperation among the volume brands on the “Electric Urban Car Family” project is proceeding as planned. Under the project led by Seat/CUPRA, the Brand Group Core will be launching electric cars in the 25,000-euro class from 2026. The four planned models – two from the Volkswagen brand and one each from CUPRA and Škoda – will be built at the Spanish plants in Martorell and Pamplona. Collaboration on the “Electric Urban Car Family” project alone will unlock synergy potential at brand group level totaling 650 million euros across the entire product life cycle.

The “Zukunft Volkswagen” program agreed at the end of last year laid the foundation for the competitiveness of Volkswagen AG in Germany. The program combines economic stability and sustainable employment. It paves the way for the Volkswagen brand as the main pillar of the Brand Group Core to become the global technologically leading volume manufacturer by 2030.

That is why the Brand Group Core is targeting continuous increases in earnings in the coming years, underpinned by the effects of the ongoing performance programs at all volume brands. Intensive efforts are already underway to implement the measures that have been decided – and thus generate a pathway to a medium-term return on sales of 8% for the Brand Group Core.