87% Profit Fall: Audi Posts €95 Million Q3 as China Sales Collapse
October 31, 2026 · Frisian News
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
Audi's net profit fell 87 per cent in the third quarter to €95 million, as deliveries to China dropped 24.5 per cent over the first nine months and US tariffs cost the company an estimated €1.2 billion. The Volkswagen subsidiary has cut its full-year guidance for the second time this year.
Audi's net profit fell 87 per cent in the third quarter, from €718 million to €95 million, according to company figures cited by Brussels Signal on October 30. The Volkswagen subsidiary barely stayed in the black.
The core Audi brand did not. Brussels Signal reported the brand swung to a €174 million operating loss between July and September, on revenue of €11.6 billion. Twelve months earlier it posted a €279 million operating profit on the same measure.
China explains most of the damage. Audi company figures show deliveries to China, including Hong Kong, dropped 24.5 per cent over the first nine months of 2026 to 328,042 vehicles. Global deliveries for the core brand fell nearly 20 per cent in the third quarter alone, to 314,905 vehicles, as demand for conventional combustion-engine models collapsed.
The United States adds a second layer of pain. Because Audi builds no passenger vehicles on American soil, US import tariffs have cost the company an estimated €1.2 billion this year, Brussels Signal reported. North American deliveries fell 17.3 per cent over the first nine months. Rivals BMW and Mercedes-Benz both manufacture in the US and carry a smaller share of that cost.
Chief executive Gernot Döllner's answer is to build in America. The proposed plant in Macon, Georgia would require a $4.2 billion investment and could produce up to 200,000 Q7, Q8 and Q9 models a year from the early 2030s, employing up to 4,500 people, Brussels Signal reported. The Volkswagen supervisory board has yet to approve it.
That strategy produced its own controversy. Döllner appeared alongside US President Donald Trump at a campaign-style event in Georgia ahead of the November 3 midterm elections. Audi's own code of conduct bars public appearances with political candidates within three months of an election. Volkswagen general works council chairwoman Daniela Cavallo called the appearance "active campaign assistance." IG Metall leader Christiane Benner described it as "politically unacceptable." Left Party (Die Linke) leader Luigi Pantisano demanded Döllner's resignation.
Audi has now cut its full-year revenue guidance to between €55 billion and €59 billion, from a prior range of €58 billion to €63 billion, and reduced its operating return on sales forecast to 3 to 5 per cent from 5 to 7 per cent, according to Brussels Signal. Nine-month revenue dropped more than €6 billion to roughly €42 billion. Parent company Volkswagen Group posted a Q3 net loss of €5.82 billion.
Workers at German sites carry the direct risk. Neckarsulm in Baden-Württemberg employs more than 15,000 people and came under viability review after Volkswagen gave the plant one year in September to present a credible cost-cutting plan or face closure. Audi invoked a "bad weather clause" agreed in 2019 on October 8, obliging management and the works council to negotiate savings. Management had already committed to cutting up to 7,500 domestic jobs by 2029.
Rival Mercedes-Benz posted Q3 net profit of €1.52 billion.
Published October 31, 2026 · Frisian News