German carmaker Volkswagen has reported a rise in sales and operating profit, indicating the company’s dieselgate legacy is manageable. The firm also set aside more money to cover future litigation costs.
Volkswagen on Thursday reported a 20-percent rise in second-quarter operating profit to 4.4 billion euros ($4.9 billion), adjusted for one-off effects. The carmaker’s revenue rose by about 2 percent to 57 billion euros in the same quarter.
In the three month to the end of June, the Wolfsburg-based firm managed to increase its provisions beyond the 16.2 billion euros already set aside for potential litigation or compensation costs arising from its emissions test cheating scandal.
Volkswagen said it had shipped a total of 5.12 million units in the first six months of the year, with sales of its core VW brand also picking up towards the end of the second quarter.
Across the whole group, unit sales took a 7-percent blow in the United States over the first half of the year but rose by almost the same amount in China, while western Europe saw a more modest increment of 2.5 percent.
Neck-and neck race
Japanese rival Toyota thus appeared in danger of losing its full-year crown as the world’s biggest auto maker by sales.
The maker of the Camry and Prius has held the title for fours years running, but was outsold by Volkswagen in the first half of 2016 as it only moved 4.99 million units.
Volkswagen’s 5.12 million units also put it way ahead of third-placed General Motors, which sold 4.76 million vehicles in the January-June period.
hg/sri (Reuters, dpa)
