FRANKFURT (Reuters) -Volkswagen, Europe’s largest carmaker, on Thursday raised its operating margin target for 2021, pointing to stronger demand for more profitable cars during the first three months of the year.
The group now expects its operating profit margin to be 5.5-7% this year, compared with a previous forecast for 5.0-6.5%, with both vehicle deliveries and vehicle sales up more than a fifth each.
First-quarter operating profit came in at 4.9 billion euros ($5.9 billion), helped by cost cuts and higher sales, a clear improvement from the 0.9 billion in the same period last year that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We’ve started into the year with a lot of momentum and a strong operating performance which is underpinned by our good quarterly figures,” Volkswagen AG Chief Executive Herbert Diess said.
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(Reporting by Christoph SteitzEditing by Riham Alkousaa and Caroline Copley)
