Europe pulls sales of Volkswagen and result rises 18% in the quarter

The German automaker Volkswagen reported net profit of 2.39 billion euros in the first quarter, an increase of 18.2% compared to the same months of 2013. The cipher was reinforced by better financial result and increased efficiency in the period.
Nigel Treblin/AP
The Group's net revenue rose 7.9 percent on the same basis of comparison, reaching 47.83 billion euros. Vehicle sales advanced 7.9 percent between January and March, to 2.56 million units. The volume produced grew 7.4% and also finished 2.56 million cars.
The performance in the quarter was mainly sustained by good time in Europe. With the accelerated recovery of the automotive market on the Mainland, VW delivered 8.1% more vehicles in Western Europe, or 732.5 thousand, and 12.3 percent more in Eastern Europe and Central Europe, or 150 thousand.
Brazil
Meanwhile, the Americas also represent important market for the vehicle manufacturer, saw deterioration in business. In the United States, the fall in sales was 6.5%, to 133.5 million cars, while in Brazil there was downtown 18.1% to 108.6 thousand units.
According to the automaker, the demand within the Brazilian market worsened after that went into effect mandating ABS brake and airbags in cars, which forced the manufacturers to raise prices. In addition, the partial reversal in the tax on industrialized products (IPI) reduced also depressed the demand for vehicles, the company said.
Deliveries of commercial vehicles, in turn, fell 3 percent to 166.1 thousand units. In Europe, there was high of 6.9%, to 111.6 million cars, while in Brazil the low was 27.8% to 33.7 million.
During the first quarter, the noted German 1.5% increment in costs, to 38.87 billion euros, and advancement of 3.2% in distribution costs, to 4.76 billion euros. Administrative costs rose 2.1 percent and ended at 1.65 billion euros.
With greater efficiency, the operating income is up 21.8% to 2.85 billion euros, leading to margin on this line of 5% to 6%. 46% growth in net financial income, to 502 million euros, also reinforced the last line of the balance sheet.
For the cumulative 2014, VW believes in high of approximately 3% in sales of vehicles. The German group also hopes to report operating margin of 5.5% to 6.5%.