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Volkswagen posts quarterly profit despite drop in sales

Volkswagen returned to profit in the third quarter as surging Chinese demand for luxury cars helped offset a 1.1% drop in vehicle deliveries due to the pandemic, sending its shares as much as 3% higher on Thursday. The German automaker's return to the black comes amid spiking coronavirus cases in Europe that led governments in France and Germany to order their countries back into strict national lockdowns on Wednesday. "The coronavirus remains a central problem," Volkswagen Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter said in a conference call with reporters. "This situation now is anything but relaxed." But Witter said the group expected the economic recovery to continue and did "not anticipate any nationwide lockdowns in larger markets." Witter said the takeover of U.S. truck maker Navistar International by Volkswagen's trucking unit Traton was an important acquisition, but the "current economic climate will not make this easy." Volkswagen reiterated it expects to post a profit for the full year, saying its business "recovered noticeably" in the third quarter as sales in China of premium vehicles, including Audi and Porsche sports cars, rose 3%. The quarterly performance was also aided by a series of cost-cutting measures launched earlier this year. Volkswagen said its net liquidity rose to 24.8 billion euros from 18.7 billion at the end of the second quarter. Excluding one-time items, third-quarter operating profit was 3.2 billion euros ($3.8 billion), down from 4.8 billion euros a year earlier, but up from a second quarter loss of 1.7 billion. In a note to clients, Jefferies analyst Philippe Houchois described the results as a "solid performance with strong cash, but relatively muted in the context of the (auto) sector recovery." Last week, German rival Daimler reported a record 24% jump in Chinese demand for its Mercedes-Benz cars, boosting its margins in the third quarter. Italian-American Fiat Chrysler Automobiles and Peugeot manufacturer PSA Group both also posted solid results this week. Witter said Volkswagen could not say for sure whether it would meet EU CO2 emissions targets this year, adding "it will be a tough race." At 1030 GMT, Volkswagen shares were up 2.9% at 129.20 euros. Related Video: Earnings/Financials Audi Bentley Bugatti Lamborghini Porsche Volkswagen

Trump reportedly says he wants to wipe German cars off the U.S. map

BERLIN/FRANKFURT — A report that U.S. President Donald Trump has threatened to pursue German carmakers until there are no Mercedes-Benz rolling down New York's Fifth Avenue dented shares in the luxury car manufacturers on Thursday. An excerpt from German magazine Wirtschaftswoche's article, which cited several unnamed European and U.S. diplomats but did not include any direct quotes, could not be independently verified, while a U.S. Embassy spokesman in Berlin referred questions to Washington. The news and current affairs magazine said Trump had told French President Emmanuel Macron in April that he aimed to push German carmakers out of the United States altogether. Macron's administration in Paris declined to comment on the report. The Trump administration last week opened a so-called Section 232 trade investigation into vehicle imports, which could result in a 25 percent tariff on cars on the same "national security" grounds Washington used to impose metals duties in March. This could destroy exports by German carmakers, which control 90 percent of the U.S. premium market and are the biggest European Union exporters of cars to the United States. BMW owns Rolls-Royce, while Daimler has Mercedes-Benz, and Volkswagen controls Bentley, Bugatti, Porsche and Audi. Daimler, BMW and Audi declined comment. Porsche was not immediately available for comment. BMW shares were trading 0.5 percent lower at 0939 GMT, while Daimler and VW's shares were down 1 percent and 1.6 percent respectively, underperforming Germany's blue-chip DAX. Trump has railed against German carmakers before. And in early 2017, in an interview with German newspaper Bild, he said he would impose 35 percent tariffs on imported cars. At the time, the president called Germany a great car producer but said that the business relationship with the United States was an unfair one-way street. Germany's auto industry association VDA says its members exported 657,000 vehicles to North America last year, with total exports of vehicle components, cars, engines, as well as second-hand vehicles totaling 31.2 billion euros in 2016. Imports from the United States to Germany amounted to 7.4 billion euros, meaning a trade deficit of 23.8 billion euros the VDA's latest available figures show. However, German brands also have huge factories in the United States, where they built 804,000 cars last year, VDA said, providing jobs for U.S. workers. Berlin has reacted angrily to the U.S.

Bentley Azure could return for limited edition

Once upon a time, Bentley had two convertibles in its lineup – there was the Continental GTC, which you can still enjoy today, and the Azure, which you can't. The bigger offering, based on the Arnage sedan, went out of production several years back, much to the disappointment of those with ostentatious tastes and bottomless pockets. But if Wolfgang Durheimer has his way, the 20-plus-year-old nameplate could return in a limited run based on the Mulsanne. The last Azure demanded ridiculous wealth to purchase, but this new model would be on an entirely different level. According to Car and Driver, Durheimer said a reborn Azure "would be built in [a batch of] 20 units and sold to absolute connoisseurs at a very high price." He stopped short of actually confirming the vehicle or its cost, but that hasn't stopped Car and Driver from suggesting a price of $1 to $1.5 million per vehicle. The timing here is fascinating, largely because Bentley's arch-rival, Rolls-Royce, is preparing to phase out its Phantom Drophead Coupe – the Mulsanne Convertible's most natural rival – due to slow sales. Whatever this limited-edition vehicle is called, it'd be all on its own. This is not the first time this particular rumor has cropped up. In his first tour as Bentley CEO, Durheimer brought a full-size convertible, called the Mulsanne Vision (shown above) to Pebble Beach in 2012. The idea was shelved by his successor, Wolfgang Schreiber, in 2013. But with Durheimer back in his old position in Crewe (and heading up efforts at Bugatti, too), it wasn't long before Bentley was back in the convertible Mulsanne game with the Grand Convertible, a Speed-based droptop. When the Grand Convertible debuted, we said the company is "watching customer reaction to the car." And the press release says the luxury droptop was "developed to signify Bentley's intentions for the future." Consider this most recent story a reinforcement of that report, then. News Source: Car and DriverImage Credit: Bentley Bentley Convertible Luxury Performance wolfgang durheimer bentley azure bentley grand convertible