Volkswagen skids into the red on $5.8 billion US tariff hit, Porsche woes

By Rachel More and Christina Amann

BERLIN (Reuters) -An expensive course correction at subsidiary Porsche dealt Volkswagen a hefty blow in the third quarter, resulting in a 1.3-billion-euro ($1.5 billion) operating loss and piling billions more in costs on top of pressure from U.S. tariffs.

Volkswagen booked 4.7 billion euros in charges due to Porsche's strategy reversal on electric vehicles in the first nine months, while U.S. import tariffs and subsequent lower sales were expected to cost Europe's biggest carmaker up to 5 billion euros this year, the company said on Thursday.

The tariff hit heaps more pressure on Volkswagen boss Oliver Blume, who will hand over the CEO role at the troubled Porsche division early next year, after he already warned last month of a multi-billion euro hit. Former McLaren boss Michael Leiters will take over as Porsche CEO.

Volkswagen's finance chief, Arno Antlitz, said at least 4 billion euros of the tariff costs were direct, with the rest linked to lost margins due to countermeasures.

TARIFF WOES WILL CONTINUE

"Those effects will continue to persist – and that is why we must rigorously implement the performance programs in place, push forward efficiency measures and develop new approaches," Antlitz said.

Shares in the company were 1% lower at 0915 GMT.

Antlitz referred to a "mixed picture" so far this year, pointing to strong demand for Volkswagen's electric cars in Europe and restructuring progress but pressure on margins from the shift to electric.

Volkswagen's operating loss in the third quarter was down from a 2.8-billion-euro operating profit for the group a year earlier but less severe than the 1.7-billion-euro loss forecast by analysts in a poll by Visible Alpha.

Porsche, 75.4%-owned by Volkswagen, also slid deep into the red in the third quarter as it delayed an electric vehicle rollout in a bid to win back consumers with hybrids and combustion engines.

Blume's move to give up his Porsche CEO job came after investors increasingly called into question his ability to lead the two companies simultaneously at a time of major challenges for both.

Volkswagen maintained its full-year guidance on Thursday but said this was based on the assumption of an adequate supply of chips, hinting at the carmaker's next battlefront as a trade stand-off over Dutch chipmaker Nexperia threatens production stoppages in the automotive industry.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

(Reporting by Rachel More and Christina Amann; Additional reporting by Christoph Steitz; Editing by Kirsti Knolle, Kim Coghill and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)