Automotive News Europe — 2025-10-30
Automotive Industry
Volkswagen Group warned it would need a sufficient supply of semiconductors to meet its financial targets this year, signaling that looming shortages of Nexperia chips could further burden a struggling car industry.
Automakers have been fighting to secure chips made by the chipmaker in the Netherlands that emerged in the cross hairs of a dispute with China. European automakers may have to halt production within days, the industry’s main lobby group ACEA said this week.
In its third-quarter results statement on Oct. 30, VW left its outlook unchanged but said the forecast was “based on the assumption of adequate availability of semiconductors.” VW has said it expects a group operating margin this year in the range of 2 to 3 percent.
VW said production at its German sites is secured for next week as of Oct. 30, but warned that disruptions remain a risk. The supply shortage “continues, for the time being, to have no impact on production at the vehicle manufacturing plants of the Volkswagen brand in Germany,” a VW spokesperson said.
“In view of the dynamic situation, however, short-term impacts on the production network of the Volkswagen Group cannot generally be ruled out,” the spokesperson said, adding that the automaker is in close contact with suppliers as it examines alternatives.
€1.3 billion loss on U.S. tariffs, Porsche EV reversal
For the three months ending in September, VW reported an operating loss of €1.3 billion ($1.5 billion), hit by billions of euros in costs from U.S. tariffs and a costly strategy reversal at its subsidiary Porsche.
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VW was forced to take writedowns and impairment charges totaling €5.1 billion to account for an overly optimistic EV strategy at Porsche, with additional headwinds from U.S. tariffs hitting its most profitable brands including Porsche and Audi.
Excluding the charges, the company’s operating margin was at 5.4 percent, compared with a negative result of 1.6 percent, VW said.
VW is confronting a range of challenges rooted in consumers in Europe turning more slowly than expected to EVs. The slow transition and tepid demand recovery since the pandemic is leaving the automaker with expensive extra capacity. At the same time, declining sales in China and the U.S. are an additional drag.
Given the struggles, VW is set to “rigorously implement” savings and be open to new approaches, Chief Financial Officer Arno Antlitz said in a statement on Oct. 30. “Our focus will be — among others — on the targeted use of our scale and exploiting synergies within the Group even more effectively.”
VW Group CEO Oliver Blume has taken steps to ease the burden, including downscaling plans to make EV batteries and in-house software. To catch up in China and increase market share in the U.S., he has struck partnerships with Xpeng and Rivian Automotive. At home, restructuring agreements with labor leaders at VW, Audi and Porsche are also meant to deliver cost savings.
Reuters contributed to this report.
VW is reaping some success with a range of new models and more attractive EV options. Rising deliveries in Western Europe and South American in the year through September are more than offsetting a decline in China and the U.S., the company said. New orders in Western Europe jumped 17 percent with more than a fifth of that made up of battery cars.
After reversing course on Porsche’s EV strategy that overestimated appetite for luxury battery cars among the wealthy, Blume is ending his controversial role as dual CEO of Porsche while remaining at the helm of parent VW Group. Michael Leiters, who previously led McLaren Automotive with key roles at Ferrari and Porsche, will take over as Porsche CEO in January.