Audi Group forecasts operating margin dip after record 2022

The Audi Group's operating profit grew from €5.5 billion in 2021 to €7.6 billion last year

Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati set £6.7 billion profit high as average car sale values spike

The Audi Group expects its operating margin to dip this year, as supply shortages ease and sales volumes begin to rebound.

The group comprising Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini and motorcycle brand Ducati set a 12.2% margin last year thanks to an increase in the value per car sold and positive effects from hedging raw materials. This meant it made a €7.6 billion (£6.7bn) operating profit in 2022, a new record for the firm.

However, the brands now predict this will fall somewhere between 9% and 11% in 2023; coinciding with a rebound in sales volumes as the supply shortage eases.

Audi finance chief Jürgen Rittersberger told journalists on a media call: "If we look at 2023, what I can say is that supply situation will improve and has already improved. So from my point of view, we will see a kind of a normalisation this year, but on the other hand, there was or there will be still some disruptions coming from the well known problems, logistic chains, but also supply chains, especially semiconductors. So I think it's 2023 a kind of normalisation but not fully normal sort of say."

This mirrors the strategy of the wider Volkswagen Group – the umbrella under which the Audi Group sits – which forecasts a stabilisation in margins at 7.9%. This is because the relaxation of the semiconductor crisis is expected to tip the car market’s balance back towards buyers by the third quarter, VW Group chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said earlier this week. In turn, the competition among manufacturers heats up.

*Read more: Investors worry as Volkswagen prioritises growth over profit*

As such, the Audi Group expects its sales to grow from 1.6 million last year to between 1.8 million and 1.9 million in 2023.

This volume increase will be led by Audi, of course: of the Group’s 1,638,638 deliveries in 2022, just 24,407 did not come from the German manufacturer. 

In turn, high-end brands Bentley and Lamborghini – which both set record sales volumes in 2022 as the Volkswagen Group used its most profitable brands to reinforce its coffers – may well reduce their delivery target.

For reference, Bentley sold 11,006 cars in pre-Covid 2019, but 15,174 last year, whereas Lamborghini delivered 8205 units in 2019 and 9233 in 2022.

This helped both brands to enjoy record years for profitability. Bentley generated €708 million (£623m), almost doubling the €389 million (£342m) record set a year ago, giving it a 20.9% operating margin. Meanwhile, Lamborghini made €614 million (£540m), giving it a 25.9% margin.

A spike in the average value of each car sold – the which was the “best in class”, according to Lamborghini CFO Paolo Poma – contributed to this success.

Bentley CFO Jan-Henrik Lafrentz added on the media call that its strategy to drive the value per car upwards was “very clearly the main driver”, and that the British firm was “probably starting to realise the full potential of our Mulliner [personalisation] brand”.