Assessment of the third quarter of 2022
Key Facts
- During the first nine months, the Progressive brand group delivered 1.2 million cars
- Compared with the prior-year period, revenue increased to €44.6 billion
- The result rose significantly to €6.2 billion
- The operating return on sales reached 14.0 percent
- Strong net cash flow of €4.6 billion
- Forecast for the full year 2022 adjusted in part
“During the first three quarters of 2022, the brand group increased its revenue, operating profit and operating return on sales despite a challenging market environment. In the process, the Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati brands made a very important contribution to our strong financial performance.”
― Jürgen Rittersberger, Member of the Board of Management for Finance and Legal Affairs
How did Audi perform during the first nine months of the year and what are the effects of the challenging market environment on deliveries?
We can draw this satisfying conclusion: The brand group is continuing on the positive course for success that it set during the first half of the year with increases in revenue, operating profit and operating return on sales in comparison with the previous year. But naturally, ongoing supply shortages and challenges in the logistics chain are affecting us, too. Thus, the brand group delivered a total of 1,212,275 cars to customers between January and September (2021: 1,354,587) – a decline of 10.5 percent compared with 2021. If we look just at the third quarter, however, in comparison with the previous year the brand group was able to increase deliveries by 13 percent to 414,688 (2021: 368,020) vehicles.
Deliveries of fully electric vehicles were likewise positive, rising during the first nine months by more than 45 percent to 76,989 vehicles (2021: 52,774). The share of BEV vehicles in the brand group thus climbed significantly to 6.4 percent during the reporting period (2021: 3.9 percent). And a new fully electric product highlight is already waiting in the wings: 2022 will also see the premiere of the successor to the Audi e-tron.*
Audi e-tron: Power consumption (combined) in kWh/100 km: 26.1–21.7CO₂ emissions (combined) in g/km: 0CO₂ emission class: A
Audi e-tron: Power consumption (combined) in kWh/100 km: 26.1–21.7CO₂ emissions (combined) in g/km: 0CO₂ emission class: A
Mr. Rittersberger, this means that the key performance indicators improved despite the decline in deliveries. How do you rate this development?
At €44,561 million (2021: €40,375 million), revenues are up 10.4 percent over 2021. That’s very good news. As during past quarters this year, the brand group profited from a strong price position, dynamic developments in the electric vehicle segment and the initial consolidation of Bentley. At the same time, both the Ducati and Lamborghini brands contributed positively to the increase in revenue with their own strong operating performance.
We see a similar picture when it comes to their operating profit and their return on sales: Lamborghini, Bentley and Ducati made a very important contribution here as well. In addition, we continued to benefit from a strong price position. The effects from commodity hedging transactions were less positive than in the previous year. The bottom line is that during the first nine months, we had a record result of €6,250 million (2021: €3,852 million) and an operating return on sales of 14.0 percent (2021: 9.5 percent).
Net cash flow normalized in comparison with last year’s very high level (2021: €7,917 million) and is now a strong €4,579 million. This figure is attributable to increased inventories as part of higher third-quarter production and ongoing disruptions to logistics and supply chains. Additionally, higher tax payments, investments, for example in Audi FAW NEV Company’s new production site in Changchun and the transfer of stakes within the Volkswagen Group effected net cash flow.
What does the forecast for the full year look like?
I expect a strong market performance and a very good result for the full year 2022 as well. We have made some adjustments to the forecast owing to the foreseeable consequences of the supply situation, which continues to be challenging, and are now predicting deliveries to customers of between 1.65 and 1.75 million vehicles. We expect revenues of between €60 and €63 billion. Thanks to a strong market performance and continued cost discipline, the Audi Group anticipates an operating return on sales of between 11 and 13 percent. This assumes that there will be no major fluctuations on commodity markets in the further course of the year. A figure of between 19 and 22 percent is expected for return on investment. The outlook for the other key performance indicators of the Audi Group is the same as at half-year; for instance, we expect net cash flow of between €4.5 and €5.5 billion.
Downloads
Quarterly Update Q3 2022
30 pages
4.5 MB
Audi Fact Pack Q3 2022
XLSX
1.8 MB
Audi Report 2021
139 pages
38.2 MB
