The carmaker also reported that sales of electric vehicles (EVs) in Q1 doubled to 133,300. Production is up in the first quarter by 16.1% to more than 2,300 units. However, the bottleneck in semiconductor supply currently affecting the automotive industry worldwide is expected to hit second quarter results for the company.

One of the main drivers of the first quarter improvement was an increase in volume in China, which is VW Group’s largest single market and showed a 61.4% recovery against Q1 of last year, when Covid had already started to hit deliveries.

The carmaker said increased unit sales and an improved product mix had helped it achieve sales revenue of €62.4 billion ($75.8 billion), up 13.3%, and its operating profit stood at €4.8 billion “despite Covid-19 and [the] slight impact from semiconductor shortages”.

“We managed the effects of Covid-19 and the semiconductor shortages responsibly, continued to invest in the electrification and digitalisation of our vehicles, and simultaneously worked on our cost base,” said Arno Antlitz, VW Group’s chief financial officer (CFO). “The shortage of semiconductors throughout the industry is expected to have a more significant impact in the second quarter than before. Nevertheless, we are confident regarding business development in the full year and have therefore raised our outlook.”