Volkswagen confirms net income last year fell by 80 percent!
FRANKFURT, Germany - March 11, 2010 - Europe's biggest carmaker Volkswagen AG says its 2009 net income declined 80% to 960 million euros ($1.3 billion), confirming its preliminary estimate released in February.
The Wolfsburg-based carmaker earned 4.8 billion euros in net income in 2008.
Revenue in 2009 was down nearly 8% to 105.2 billion euros from 114 billion euros in 2008, VW said Thursday.
The company expects the global auto industry climate “to remain harsh” in 2010 and says sales volumes will not likely rise to pre-crisis levels until 2012.
However, the group's revenue and operating profit for 2010 should exceed 2009 levels, while VW will focus on efficiencies.
VW says operating profit was down 70% in 2009 to 1.9 billion euros from 6.3 billion euros in 2008.
