Volkswagen Group (XETRA:VOW) has pointed to a potential boost to orders from Western Europe this year, despite sluggish wider demand, as it plans to release a range of new electric vehicles.
Some 30 models will be unveiled over the course of 2024, with the carmaker noting it had “started the new year with a clearly positive trend” in full-year results on Wednesday.
Overall growth is likely to slow though, Volkswagen said in the statement, with a 3% rise in sales expected for the year, following 12% growth to 9.24 million vehicles last year.
This is as wider economic concerns persist, coupled with intense competition with rival carmakers, particularly in China.
Volkswagen is planning to roll out cars in China through a partnership with XPeng, though this won’t take place until 2026, with UBS analysts noting fierce competition would still be the negative driver against the firm.
Reiterating a ‘sell’ rating for Volkswagen in a note, UBS added further details of a €3 billion cost-saving plan would likely come in an earnings call on Thursday.
"To ensure that we remain successful sustainably, we will focus in 2024 on ramping up new vehicles [and] reducing costs,” Volkswagen said, with early retirements among cost-saving measures likely.
Volkswagen subsidiary Porsche AG (ETR:P911) doubled down on plans on Tuesday to continue favouring “value over volume,” despite a 15% drop in Chinese deliveries last year.
Though rivals have taken to slashing prices in a bid to tempt demand, boss Oliver Blume said Porsche would not follow the “theme”.
“Chinese customers tend to favour more innovative and affordable cars from local brands such as BYD,” Third Bridge analyst Orwa Mohamad noted on the updates.
“The partnership with XPeng could potentially turn this around [and we] believe XPeng is the right partner, given their specialised expertise in China's EV market, particularly in software and autonomous driving technology.”