Volkswagen Posts Substantial Rise in First Quarter 2008 Profits

Wolfsburg, 23 April 2008 -- Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft posted a substantial rise in operating profit for the first three months of the current 2008 financial year. The increase of approximately 21 percent brought operating profit to EUR 1.3 billion. “We had a very good first quarter. This shows the potential of the Volkswagen Group,” Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management, commented on Wednesday. “We are optimistic about achieving our targets for 2008, even if conditions remain difficult.”

Volkswagen today published an ad-hoc announcement with the key figures for the first quarter.

Interim Report January-March 2008:

- Volkswagen Group operating profit in the first quarter of 2008 up significantly year-on-year at EUR 1.3 billion

- At EUR 1.4 billion, profit before tax exceeds previous year's figure by EUR 0.3 billion

- Group sales revenue increases by 1.4 percent year-on-year to EUR 27.0 billion

- At 3.9 percent (3.2 percent), ratio of investments in property, plant and equipment (capex) to sales revenue below the long-term average

- At EUR 14.2 billion, net liquidity in the Automotive Division recorded a further improvement compared with the end of 2007

- Share of voting rights in Scania AB increased to 68.60 percent, subject to antitrust approvals

- Group models successful:

- Deliveries to customers worldwide up 7.0 percent year-on-year to 1.6 million vehicles; Group market share at record level in Germany

- All-time record sales in the first quarter for the majority of brands

- Growth remains strong in China, South America and Central and Eastern Europe; strong growth rates for sales in Russia and India

- Market debut for Passat CC and Routan

- World premiere of the new Volkswagen Scirocco and the new Audi A4 Avant at the Geneva International Motor Show; SEAT unveils impressive Bocanegra design study

- Sharan BlueMotion expands BlueMotion model range; new Skoda Superb also launched as GreenLine version

Outlook

The brand diversity of the Volkswagen Group is a critical competitive advantage. Almost all Group brands will launch attractive new models in 2008. We are thus selectively expanding our product portfolio and moving into additional market segments. For this reason, we are assuming that deliveries to Volkswagen Group customers in 2008 will exceed the record levels achieved in the previous year. We expect demand for Group vehicles to increase substantially, especially in the Asia-Pacific, Central and Eastern Europe, and South America regions.

We are constantly improving our processes and systematically implementing our disciplined approach to cost management. Together with the higher sales revenue resulting from the expected increase in unit sales, this will help lift our operating profit for 2008 above the previous year’s figure.

The full Interim Report will be published on April 30, 2008.

Source: Volkswagen

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