Despite first-quarter challenges – Audi sees strong growth in deliveries of electric vehicles

“Our key figures for the first quarter clearly show that we must continue to improve our efficiency and competitiveness and are therefore pushing ahead with the transformation of Audi with our full strength,” said Audi CFO Jürgen Rittersberger.” The agreement for the future has set the right course. Together, we will tackle the challenges and the necessary changes and bring Audi back to the forefront.”

Deliveries of fully electric vehicles increased by roughly 30 percent

In the first quarter of 2025, the Brand Group Progressive** delivered 388,756 (-3.3 percent) Audi, Bentley and Lamborghini brand cars as well as 11,947 (-3.5 percent) Ducati brand motorcycles.

With 46,371 electric cars delivered worldwide, the Audi brand recorded strong growth of 30.1 percent compared to the same period last year. The electric models were especially popular in France (+169 percent), Switzerland (+120 percent), the Netherlands (+87 percent), Norway (+64 percent) and in the home market of Germany (+59 percent). In total, the premium manufacturer handed over 383,401 vehicles to customers in the first quarter, which corresponds to a slight decrease of approximately 3.4 percent compared to the same quarter of last year.

With an increase of 86 percent, incoming orders for fully electric models in western Europe developed very positively. Across all drive types, incoming orders in Western Europe rose by 22 percent vis-à-vis the same quarter last year. These developments show that the model initiative launched in 2024 is gradually having an impact on volumes.

“The first few months of 2025 saw us take decisive steps towards repositioning our company,” said CEO Gernot Döllner. “This includes the agreement for the future concluded between company management and the works council in March, which aims to increase productivity, speed and flexibility at our German sites. The year will continue to be very challenging due to the global economic conditions. But Audi has started to execute its strategy and is delivering on it. Our model initiative is now, step by step, coming onto the global markets. We are particularly encouraged by sales and order intake for our new electric models.”

As part of the model initiative, the premium brand will also be launching a total of ten new plug-in hybrid models by the end of 2025. The Audi A3 and Audi A5, each available in two body styles, have already hit the market. Along with increased charging capacity, the plug-in hybrids offer long electric ranges of more than 100 kilometers (62 mi). Two additional models in the full-size class will follow in May 2025 with the launch of the Audi A6 Avant e-hybrid* and
Audi A6 Sedan e-hybrid*.

Deliveries in Europe, North America and China

In Europe (excluding Germany), Audi brand deliveries declined slightly, by 3 percent, to 112,707 vehicles in the first three months of the year. Deliveries of fully electric models grew strongly with more than 25,129 units, an increase of 50.4 percent vis-à-vis the same quarter of the previous year. In its home market of Germany, Audi recorded an increase of 4.8 percent with 48,447 vehicles delivered. There were 8,640 deliveries of fully electric models, representing a plus of 59 percent. In terms of deliveries across all drive types, Audi recorded the best first quarter in its history in countries including Poland, Austria and Croatia.

In North America (excluding Mexico), the brand recorded a slight decline of 2.1 percent with 48,599 vehicles handed over to customers. This is primarily due to the model initiative, with many models currently undergoing a generational change.

Deliveries in China amounted to 144,471 vehicles, down 7.0 percent on the previous year. The main reason for this is the intense competition in the local market.Audi is therefore focusing, among other things, on rapidly expanding its portfolio of electric vehicles and strengthening its setup in China with market-specific models, production and local partners.

Five world premieres took center stage at Auto Shanghai 2025, the A6L e-tron among them. With the AUDI E5 Sportback, the first production model from the new electric brand AUDI, the company delivered on its promise of shorter product development times. Two more models will follow in the coming years.

Developed specifically for the Chinese market, the sister brand focuses on fully electric vehicles and appeals to new and particularly tech-savvy customer groups. At the same time, the premium manufacturer is continuing its model initiative in China, with new models based on the Premium Platform Electric and the Premium Platform Combustion.

Financial performance at the start of the year

Audi Group revenue was 15,431 million euros in the first quarter of 2025, up 12.4 percent on the figure for the same period last year. The increase was driven by factors such as an improved selection of models and higher sales of electric models.

Operating profit rose to 537 (Q1 2024: 466) million euros. In the period under review, the Audi Group achieved an operating margin of 3.5 (Q1 2024: 3.4) percent.

Overview of Bentley, Lamborghini and Ducati

Bentley delivered 2,388 cars from January to March 2025 (Q1 2024: 2,506). This resulted in revenue of 661 (Q1 2024: 688) million euros. The traditional British brand achieved an operating profit of 71 (Q1 2024: 120) million euros and an operating margin of 10.7 (Q1 2024: 17.4) percent.

Lamborghini delivered 2,967 vehicles in the first three months of the year (Q1 2024: 2,630), and thus 12.8 percent more than in the same period last year. Revenue grew by 29.6 percent to 895 (Q1 2024: 691) million euros. Operating profit rose by 33.0 percent to 248 (Q1 2024: 187) million euros, with a slight year-on-year increase in the operating margin to 27.7 (Q1 2024: 27.0) percent.

Recording 11,947 motorcycles delivered, Ducati remained 3.5 percent below the previous year’s figure (Q1 2024: 12,378), with revenue decreasing to 246 (Q1 2024: 262) million euros. Operating profit declined to 15.0 (Q1 2024: 27) million euros, while operating margin reached 6.3 (Q1 2024: 10.5) percent.

Financial result and profit after tax

The Audi Group’s financial result after the first quarter of 2025 was 265 (Q1 2024: 515) million euros. This includes 170 million euros from business in China (Q1 2024: 179). Profit after tax after three months totaled 630 (Q1 2024: 736) million euros.

Net cash flow

The Audi Group’s net cash flow amounted to -61 (Q1 2024: -768) million euros for the three-month period. Factors that had a negative impact here included investments in products and platforms, the acquisition of the remaining shares in Sauber Holding AG as well as the change in working capital.

Forecast for 2025

The Audi Group continues to expect revenue of between 67.5 and 72.5 billion euros for 2025 as a whole. The operating margin is forecast to remain in the range of 7 to 9 percent, with net cash flow between 3 and 4 billion euros. Against the backdrop of the present high volatility, the financial implications of import tariffs, particularly in the United States, cannot be conclusively assessed. The financial repercussions of the agreement for the future are currently being evaluated, as certain parts of the agreement are still being worked out. As a result, the forecast does not yet include these two factors.

Further information can be found in the Quarterly Update and Fact Pack for the first quarter of 2025.

Selected Audi Group key figures at a glance

** The Brand Group Progressive describes the Audi Group with the Audi, Bentley, Lamborghini, and Ducati brands. The terms “Audi Group,” “Brand Group Progressive,” and “brand group” are used synonymously here.