Volkswagen reported a 30 per cent rise in net profit to €833 million in the first six months of the current year as demand for its cars remained strong outside Germany.
VW said in a statement it sold 2.66 million cars worldwide from January to June, 2.6 per cent more than in the corresponding period a year earlier, expanding its global market share to by 0.6 percentage points to 12.5 per cent.
Demand remained sluggish in the car maker's home market of Germany, where VW sold 513,000 cars in the first half, down 5.4 per cent from a year earlier.
That was offset by lively demand in Eastern Europe, however, where sales grew by 18.6 per cent; South America and Africa, where sales were up 14.4 per cent; and the Asia-Pacific region, where sales were up 16.3 per cent, VW said.
Group revenue totalled €46.773 billion, an increase of 9.9 per cent and pre-tax profit before extraordinary items was up 16.2 per cent at €1.513 billion, the statement said.
Business in the second half of the year would continue to develop favourably, with strong overseas demand more than offsetting sluggish German business, VW said.
"On the basis of the first half, we expect a further rise in both sales and earnings for the full year," VW predicted.
AFP