*This content was translated by AI.
Volkswagen Group Korea achieved external growth last year with sales of 1.2 trillion won on the back of strong sales of its flagship brands, but its operating profit, a profit indicator, plunged nearly half year-on-year, putting its internal management on alert.
According to the Financial Supervisory Service's electronic disclosure system and industry on the 13th, Volkswagen Group Korea, the top company in charge of four brands, Audi, Volkswagen, Bentley, and Lamborghini, recorded sales of KRW 1.252.8 trillion in 2025. This is an increase of 11.9% from the previous year (1.11 trillion won).
This external growth was led by its affiliated brand, Volkswagen Korea. Volkswagen Korea can be analyzed to have contributed to increasing the group's overall sales by settling in the market with SUV lineup such as Tiguan and ID.4, starting with the large SUV "Atlas" launched in May last year.
However, operating profit did not keep up with sales growth. The total operating profit of the corporation last year was about 9.18 billion won, plunging 47.1 percent from the previous year (17.36 billion won). As a result, the operating profit ratio also fell 0.82 percent from 1.55 percent last year to 0.73% and struggled to tuck into the 0% range.
The root cause of the deterioration in profitability is the soaring cost of sales. Last year, sales costs amounted to about 1.138 trillion won, up about 149 billion won from the previous year. This exceeds the increase in sales (about 133.5 billion won). Volkswagen Group Korea cut sales and management costs by about 7.3 billion won compared to the previous year, making it cost-effective, but it was not enough to prevent the deterioration of the margin structure caused by rising costs.
On the other hand, net profit recorded 43.1 billion won, a significant increase from the previous year (8 billion won). This is difficult to see as a priming water for sales activities. Rather, the accounting factors reflecting corporate tax revenues (refund, etc.) of about 30 billion won were large. This is why analysts say that despite various efforts, such as introducing new cars and reducing SG&A costs, it did not appear clearly as a result.
There were also many hopeful changes in 2026. As of April 1, 2026, Volkswagen Group Korea appointed Michael Arndt as president of its Volkswagen division. He will directly report to Volkswagen Group Korea CEO Till Shea. In addition, Audi Korea will also have its flagship model A6 debut in Korea. Through this, Audi Korea's strategy is to use it as an opportunity to rebound in sales. However, Volkswagen Korea's new car is known to have no planned car this year. The lack of new car plans compared to the size of the company is considered a regrettable part.
An industry official predicted, "It is positive that Volkswagen Korea is maintaining its sales volume through competitive new cars such as Atlas, but at the group corporate level, lowering the cost burden linked to the global supply chain and restoring operating profit margins will be the biggest homework this year."
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*This content was translated by AI.
