Volkswagen on Thursday confirmed its 2023 outlook after reporting higher revenue in the first quarter driven by vehicle sales in Europe and North America.
The German auto maker
VOW3,
said sales rose to 76.20 billion euros ($84.31 billion), a 22% increase over the first quarter of 2022.
Operating result before special items fell to EUR5.75 billion from 8.3 billion in the first quarter of 2022, Volkswagen said, with a 7.5% return on sales. But the car maker highlighted an increase in operating profit of 35% before valuation effects, largely from commodity hedging, to EUR7.1 billion. This adjusted figure puts the company’s margin at 9.3%, it said.
Sales figures stem from a recovery of volumes in Europe and North America, Volkswagen said. Overall, deliveries rose 7.5%. Battery-electric vehicle deliveries rose 42% to 141,000, and totaled 7% of all deliveries.
Volkswagen confirmed its 2023 forecast for revenue increase of between 10% and 15% and an operating return on sales between 7.5% and 8.5%.
Write to David Sachs at david.sachs@wsj.com
