Audi records net profit for 2006…VW's investors very happy

This year is turning up just the way Europe's largest automaker and manufacturer of quality VW parts has predicted it to be-a great year for them! Volkswagen's cash cows are living up to the expectations of their parent automaker.



News of sales increase is flooding the automaker starting with the Skoda which has recorded an amazing increase in its worldwide sale in 2006 and earned a pre-tax profit surge of 40.6%. It can be remembered that Skoda was once a laughing stock in the automotive world but due to the remarkable management of its parent company, Volkswagen, it has become one of the profitable subsidiaries of VW.



Last Wednesday, another profit producing subsidiary of Volkswagen has announced that its 2006 net profit has rose by 63% resulting from it record sales of 1.34 billion euros or $1.77 billion USD. The Audi, which is a luxury car unit of Volkswagen, has again made the investors very happy. The German automobile manufacturer has also said that it would sell more than a million cars in 2008 and surpass its last year's sales record with this year's sales. Audi is confident that the introduction of its sleek new A5 model in June would help boost its sales for this year.

It should be noted that the new VW CEO Martin Winterkorn who is also the previous boss of Audi has made significant contributions to the success of the unit. The current boss of Audi is Rupert Stadler who said that the unit is well on its way to becoming the industry's most successful luxury car maker by 2015. "We are the fastest-growing premium brand in the world."



For the year 2006, Audi has sold a total of 905,188 cars which boost its revenue by 15% to 31.14 billion euros or $41.2 billion USD. The recorded increase in sales by the Audi unit has affected the VW shares closing at 2.72 euros or $3.60 or 2.9% at 95.64 euros ($126.49) on a trading that closes last Wednesday in Frankfurt.