Audi targets profits on par with last year's record
Audi is targeting 2012 profit "on par" with last year's record results as higher sales offset increased spending on new models and factories
Ingolstadt Audi is targeting 2012 profit "on par" with last year's record results as higher sales offset increased spending on new models and factories.
Operating profit surged 60 per cent to ¤5.35 billion (Dh26.2 billion) last year from ¤3.34 billion in 2010, the Volkswagen brand said yesterday in Ingolstadt, Germany. Revenue rose 24 per cent to ¤44.1 billion, boosted by a 37 per cent gain in deliveries in China, its largest market.
"For 2012 as a whole, we plan to achieve an operating profit that will be on a par with the record year of 2011, despite higher expenses," chief financial officer Axel Strotbek said in a speech. The target depends on the economic environment "not changing significantly."
Audi's earnings underscored its status as the number-two in luxury car sales after passing Daimler's Mercedes-Benz in deliveries last year. The VW unit, which has a goal of overtaking leader Bayerische Motoren Werke AG by 2015, posted a profit margin of 12.1 per cent, outpacing the 9 per cent return on sales at Mercedes.
To fuel its expansion, Audi plans to spend ¤13 billion over the next five years to develop new models and increase production capacity.
