German auto giant Volkswagen ended the third quarter of 2026 with a loss of €5.82 billion, compared with a profit of €1.07 billion a year earlier. The company may end the year in the red for the first time since the 2015 diesel scandal. This was reported by Qazaqyia.kz citing Kursiv Media.
Volkswagen's revenue fell 6.3% in July–September to €75.3 billion. Operating profit almost vanished: it dropped from €5.4 billion a year earlier to €100 million. Sales declined from 2.2 million to 1.89 million vehicles.
The main blow to results came from one-off expenses, which reached €7.8 billion for the quarter. Of this, about €6.4 billion was due to write-downs from the revaluation of Porsche assets. Another roughly €1 billion is linked to the group's Chinese operations.
Additional pressure came from weak demand in China, price competition and US import tariffs. In addition, the share of electric vehicles in sales is growing, and they currently bring less profit than cars with internal combustion engines.
The group expects to save about €31 billion through restructuring. In September, the supervisory board approved the cutting of another 50,000 jobs worldwide — in addition to the previously announced reduction of the same number of positions.
The future of four Volkswagen plants in Germany between 2031 and 2034 remains in question.
Amid worsening results, Volkswagen risks ending the whole of 2026 with a loss. If this happens, the year will be the group's first loss-making one since the 2015 diesel scandal.