"With the plant closings at semiconductor suppliers in Malaysia and elsewhere, the challenge has now become even greater, so that our sales in the third quarter will probably be noticeably below the second quarter," Ola Kaellenius says
Volkswagen's operating profit came in at 4.8 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in the first quarter to March, helped by cost cuts and higher sales, versus 0.9 billion in the same period last year that was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Sales at Volkswagen and Stellantis to the EU, Britain and the countries of the European Free Trade Association (EFTA), rose by 46% and 140% respectively, while Renault reported a rise of 70%.
Daimler announced the fund on Feb. 3 alongside plans to spin off the world's largest truck and bus maker, as it seeks to increase its appeal to investors as a focused electric, luxury cars business.
We will develop proposals for new projects for individual sites, with which we can support additional employment and the change to new drive technologies.
As a result of the spin-off, a significant majority stake in the Daimler Truck business would be distributed to Daimler AG's shareholders allowing for a deconsolidation.
A spin-off would require the approval of an extraordinary shareholders' meeting of Daimler AG.
The Daimler truck business will have fully independent management, stand-alone corporate governance including an independent chairman of the supervisory board, and is targeted to qualify as a DAX company.
We have confidence in the financial and operational strength of our two vehicle divisions.
We are convinced that independent management and governance will allow them to operate even faster... and thus be significantly more agile and competitive.
The pair could team up in some capacity to work on the next generation of Renault Master vans.
Demand for vans of all sizes has jumped amid the COVID-19 pandemic, fuelled by ecommerce deliveries as people have ordered more goods from home during lockdowns.
