A look into Volkswagen's 2009 numbers show that their sales numbers might be increasing, but they are struggling to stay afloat financially. Of course, the worldwide recession could be partly to blame for this abysmal yearly performance, but that argument only goes so far. So, let's see what the numbers have to say about Volkswagen's relevancy in the automobile industry. For 2009, Volkswagen recognized a 0.6% increase in total sales from fiscal year 2008. While increasing sales, they were also able to slightly reduce the number of vehicles produced, which led to layoffs of a 1,500 employees. These statistics might lead you to believe that VW is moving forward in a market in which other manufacturers are struggling to get through. However, the actual financial data paints an entirely different picture. As compared to 2008, Volkswagen found their 2009 sales revenue decreasing by 7.6% while their operating profit fell a mind-bending 70.7%. Their profit after taxes took an even bigger hit by falling an astonishing 80.8%. In North America, VW's market share recognized a loss of 20.7% while in its home country, Germany, its market share increased 18.4%. Unfortunately for Volkswagen, though, the countries of Germany and China were the only two locales where sales saw an increase. Volkswagen is able to tout that their market share worldwide was able to increase from 10.3% in 2008 to 11.3% in 2009. Volkswagen shareholders saw their shares of Volkswagen go from being worth 11.92 per share in 2008 to 2.38 in 2009. This obviously makes it difficult to be overly optimistic about Volkswagen's people, as this kind of drop in share price is sure to send investors running to better investments. While there are some positive things that VW can take away from their fiscal year 2009, there are many other areas of their business that must be addressed quickly before too much damage in both their domestic as well as their international markets is done. |
