Work on the future ID.Golf stops temporarily while Volkswagen's cost drive and a heavy load of special items squeeze nine-month margins.
Volkswagen is temporarily pausing development work on the future ID.Golf, its brand finance chief said on 29 October. The move came with nine-month figures for Brand Group Core: an operating result of 4.33 billion euros, down from 4.72 billion euros a year earlier, and an operating margin of 4.1%.
Volkswagen has put the future ID.Golf on hold. David Powels, chief financial officer of the Volkswagen brand and Brand Group Core, said development work on the car will stop temporarily, until the necessary investment can be accommodated securely. He announced the pause on 29 October alongside the group's results for the first nine months of 2026.
Powels presented the pause as one concrete step in a wider effort: improving the cost base, tightening working capital and keeping a firm grip on investment. He also said the group is leaning harder on cross-brand governance, with a new steering model that has been in place since the middle of the year.
Margins under pressure
Brand Group Core finished the nine months with an operating result of 4.33 billion euros, compared with 4.72 billion euros in the same period of 2025. The operating margin slipped from 4.4% to 4.1%. Unit sales of 3.75 million vehicles and sales revenue of 106.4 billion euros were close to last year's level, and net cash flow dropped to 1.43 billion euros from 4.34 billion euros.
Volkswagen says tougher competition, heavier spending on sales incentives and negative mix effects weighed on the whole group. Battery-electric demand climbed sharply, above all in Germany, helped by high fuel prices and government incentives. But the company says that shift is costing volume and, above all, the earnings of its higher-margin combustion models.
The Volkswagen Passenger Cars brand took the hardest knock. Its operating margin came in at 1.3%, well below the original expectation, and its operating result fell to 813 million euros from 1,476 million euros. Unit sales were 2.24 million vehicles, down 1.7%. Volkswagen blames special items: restructuring costs, the planned sale of Volkswagen Osnabruck GmbH and the already implemented end of ID.4 production in Chattanooga. Without them, the brand's margin would have been 2.6% and the group's 4.9%.
Brand by brand
| Brand | Operating result | Operating margin |
|---|---|---|
| Volkswagen Passenger Cars | 813 million euros | 1.3% |
| Skoda Auto | 1.92 billion euros | 8.3% |
| Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles | 465 million euros | 3.8% |
| SEAT & CUPRA | 6 million euros | 0.1% |
Skoda carried the group. Its global unit sales rose 3.4% to 899,055 vehicles, all-electric deliveries jumped 41.3%, and the Elroq was the best-selling electric vehicle in the Volkswagen Group. Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles more than doubled its operating result, with all-electric model deliveries up 23.4%.
Cars still coming
Volkswagen pointed to the new ID. Tiguan, which made its world premiere a few weeks ago, and to the Electric Urban Car Family. The company says 150,000 orders arrived for the ID. Polo, ID. Cross, Skoda Epiq and CUPRA Raval soon after their debut. SEAT & CUPRA leads the project, with production in Martorell and Pamplona, and the shared platform is expected to yield synergies of around 600 million euros over its life cycle.
SEAT & CUPRA's finance board member, Patrik Andreas Mayer, said low profitability and weak cash generation threaten the brand's ability to invest in its future, and that all planned future investments will be reprioritised.
