FRANKFURT – Automaker Volkswagen saw car sales and operating profit plunge in the first quarter as the coronavirus outbreak closed dealerships and halted production.
Global sales fell 23% to 2.0 million vehicles in the first three months of the year, from 2.6 million in the year-earlier quarter, the company said Wednesday.
Operating earnings excluding financial items such as interest and taxes shrank by 81% to 0.9 billion euros from 4.8 billion euros ($5.2 billion) a year earlier.
The company said Wednesday that despite the disruption from the virus it remained financially strong with what it termed a “robust” cash pile of 17.8 billion euros (%19 billion).