{"text":[[{"start":10.52,"text":"Volkswagen’s losses deepened in the third quarter as the German carmaker wrestled with a downturn in China and warned that its earnings power was “too low” to sustain investment in new technologies."}],[{"start":22.04,"text":"Europe’s largest auto group posted an operating loss of €5.9bn for the three months to September, compared with a loss of €1.3bn a year earlier. That was far bigger than analysts’ expectations for a loss of €2.6bn, according to Visible Alpha."}],[{"start":39.32,"text":"Volkswagen had already sharply lowered its guidance in September, citing writedowns and restructuring costs totalling €10bn. The writedown involved a non-cash impairment loss of €6.4bn for its stake in Porsche and €1bn on its assets in China."}],[{"start":55.92,"text":"Revenue declined 6.3 per cent year on year to €75.3bn as deliveries to China slumped heavily while strong sales of electric vehicles in Europe eroded its margins compared with combustion engine models."}],[{"start":68.96,"text":"“The Chinese market is shrinking sharply. In Europe, Chinese manufacturers are increasing competitive pressure with low prices, and in the US, tariffs are weighing on us,” chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said in a video message on Thursday."}],[{"start":82.24,"text":"Even excluding the one-off impact of €8bn from the writedowns, Antlitz noted that its operating profit margin for the nine-month period was 3.8 per cent."}],[{"start":91.6,"text":"“That means that for every €100 in sales revenue, less than €4 remain as operating profit. That is not enough in the long term,” he added, saying VW’s profitability needed to increase for the company to continue investing in advanced technologies."}],[{"start":106,"text":"Shares in the group fell 1 per cent in early trading on Thursday."}],[{"start":109.22,"text":"The German group, which also owns Porsche, Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini, has embarked on a historic restructuring programme that could lead to the loss of more than 100,000 jobs and the ending of vehicle production at four German plants."}],[{"start":124.16,"text":"Like many of its European rivals, VW has been hit hard by a severe slowdown in the Chinese market despite overhauling its strategy in the world’s largest market to produce vehicles locally using local technology, partners and components. For the January to September period, its deliveries to China dropped 30 per cent year on year."}],[{"start":142.36,"text":"VW is also offloading non-core assets and streamlining its models to be more cost-competitive. It is seeking to develop vehicles faster to keep up with the pace of Chinese rivals who are offering more affordable EVs and hybrids equipped with advanced software."}],[{"start":157.28,"text":"For the full year, VW said it expected sales revenue of about €315bn and an operating profit margin up to 1 per cent."}],[{"start":166.36,"text":"Despite its warning on investment capability, its net liquidity stood firm at €33bn as of the end of September, compared with €34.5bn at the end of December."}],[{"start":177.08,"text":"Meanwhile, France’s Renault, which has gone all in on EVs and has continued to trim production costs under chief executive François Provost, beat revenue forecasts in the third quarter despite the challenge from Chinese rivals making headway in Europe."}],[{"start":191.44,"text":"Sales of its EVs, including its hit Renault 5 model and its newly relaunched Twingo, have picked up strongly this year, with a “switch” from customers in the second quarter that had carried into the third, Renault’s outgoing finance chief Duncan Minto said on Thursday."}],[{"start":205.6,"text":"“There’s been a continuous rise in demand for EVs,” Minto said. “There is an increased pressure on (Renault’s) Dacia and (midsized) C segment cars from the Chinese competition, but we’ve been working internally on execution, on fixed cost.”"}],[{"start":220.4,"text":"Despite a fall in sales volumes year on year, revenues rose 1.4 per cent at constant exchange rates to €11.6bn, above analysts’ average forecasts for a slight drop. EVs, which are still priced higher on average, made up close to 26 per cent of Renault’s third-quarter sales, helping to lift earnings."}],[{"start":239.64,"text":"Renault confirmed its operating margin target of about 5.5 per cent for 2026."}],[{"start":250.48,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1793266001_7336.mp3"}