INGOLSTADT (dpa-AFX) - Audi increased sales and turnover strongly last year, but made significantly less profit. Profit after tax fell by twelve percent to 6.3 billion euros - mainly due to raw material hedging transactions, as CFO Jürgen Rittersberger said on Tuesday in Ingolstadt. The outlook for the current year is bleak: Audi expects sales to fall from 69.9 billion to 63 to 68 billion euros, partly due to several model changes after two years without a new model.

"2024 will be an even more challenging year than 2023" and "a year of transition for Audi", said Rittersberger. Competition will become tougher and discounts will have to be granted in some areas. Investments are increasing. The discontinuation of model series and the launch of the Audi Q6 e-tron, the A6 e-tron and the A5 led to higher costs and had a temporary negative impact on sales. In addition, there were supply problems with engines at Audi.

Combustion engine phase-out targeted for 2033

Board of Management Chairman Gernot Dollner is sticking to the dates for its exit from the combustion engine, but at the same time emphasized: "We can react to different customer requirements, we are well and flexibly positioned." The future of the car is electric; Audi will present its last new combustion engine model in 2026 and is aiming to phase it out in 2033, said Dollner. But the EU will review its ban on new combustion engines planned for 2035 in 2026. We will be able to react very flexibly to any ripple effects.

By the end of the decade, Audi wants to sell just as many e-cars as combustion engines and thus be just as profitable, said Dollner. In 2023, only nine percent of the 1.9 million Audis sold were fully electric. Audi does not want to have a fully electric model on offer in all core segments until 2027.

Audi currently offers three all-electric model series on three different platforms. Immediately before the annual press conference, Audi presented the Q6 e-tron electric SUV - the first Audi vehicle on the PPE platform developed jointly with Porsche for full-size cars. The launch of the Q6 e-tron had been delayed by two years due to software problems. The first fully electric car from the main plant in Ingolstadt has a range of up to 670 kilometers and will be launched in Germany and the USA in the second half of 2024. Next year, the Q6 e-tron will also be built at Audi's new electric car plant in Changchun, China.

87,000 employees worldwide

Last year, Audi increased its sales by 17 percent to 1.9 million cars and turnover by 13 percent to 69.9 billion euros. The sales margin in the core business fell to nine percent - in other words, for every 100 euros in sales, nine euros remained in operating profit before interest and taxes. In the current year, the margin is expected to be between eight and ten percent with lower sales.

Audi employs 53,000 people in Germany and 87,000 worldwide. In order to achieve the ambitious medium-term target margin of 14 percent, Rittersberger announced a "Performance Program 14". This included increasing turnover and reducing fixed costs, material costs, product costs and factory costs. He did not respond to questions as to whether further job cuts were possible.

More business planned in the USA

An important goal for the coming years is also to strengthen business in the USA, said Dollner. He wants to "build North America into a third pillar". Last year, Audi sold more than 42 percent of its cars in Asia, just under 42 percent in Europe and only just under 15 percent in North America. As part of the Volkswagen Group, Audi will "bring further products to North America". However, it has not yet been decided whether Audi will build a model in the USA.

In China, Audi will rejuvenate and expand its range and launch a new generation of combustion vehicles on the market. Audi will develop and build a new model in southern China with its Chinese partner SAIC./rol/DP/men