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VW more than doubles net profit in 2011

Volkswagen, Europe's biggest car maker, said on Friday it more than doubled net profit last year as worldwide sales topped the eight-billion mark for the first time.

Published: 24 February 2012 14:15 CET

VW more than doubles net profit in 2011

Photo: DPA

VW, whose brands include Volkswagen, Audi, SEAT and Skoda, said in a statement it booked net profit of €15.799 billion ($21.2 billion) in 2011, up from €7.266 billion in 2010.

After payments to minority shareholders, the bottom-line profit stood at €15.4 billion, compared with €6.835 billion a year earlier, the auto giant said.

Operating profit raced ahead by 57.8 percent to €11.271 billion.

“The Volkswagen group again generated record profit in the fiscal year,” the car manufacturer announced.

Deliveries to customers topped the eight-million mark for the first time, rising by 14.7 percent to 8.265 million vehicles and revenues rose by 25.6 percent to €159.34 billion.

In comparison with other automotive giants, that places VW ahead of Japan’s Toyota in terms of unit sales last year, but still behind US giant General Motors, the world’s biggest car maker.

VW hopes to overtake GM to fill the number one position by 2018.

In the wake of its strong performance, VW said it would pay an increased dividend of €3.00 per ordinary share and €3.06 per preference share for 2011, compared with the 2010 payout of €2.20 and €2.26 respectively.

Investors appeared unimpressed and VW shareholders were up by a modest 0.36 percent at €139.65 on the Frankfurt stock exchange, underperforming the overall market.

The figures are only preliminary and full 2011 earnings will be released at VW’s annual news conference on March 12.

AFP/jcw

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Which Bavaria-based companies regularly hire English speakers?

Munich ranks third in German cities with the highest total GDP, behind Berlin and Hamburg, but in terms of GDP per capita, it’s higher than both of them.

It also consistently ranks high, often highest, in terms of average household income.

As of 2023, nine of the 40 companies listed on DAX, Germany’s stock index, were based in Bavaria. Seven of those are based specifically in Munich.

While Frankfurt is commonly known to be Germany’s business capital, Munich can claim the title of Germany’s insurance capital, which is saying something, as Germany is home to some of the largest insurance firms in the world, like Allianz.

Beyond the state’s capital city, a number of international companies are based elsewhere in Bavaria, particularly in the Franken region, near Nuremberg.

Which companies actively hire English speakers?

Bavaria, and Munich in particular, is home to a number of companies at the forefront of international business. But the state is known for its traditional, sometimes conservative, culture, which affects its business culture as well.

Whereas companies embracing English as their primary business language are easy to find in Berlin, the practice is less common in the south. That said, there are some notable exceptions.

Sportswear giants, Adidas and Puma, both have their headquarters near Nuremberg in Herzogenaurach, and regularly recruit English speaking international talent.

“As an international company, our teams reflect the rich diversity of our consumers and communities,” Jon Greenhalgh, Senior Manager Media Relations for Adidas told The Local. “Fostering a culture of inclusion where we value and leverage differences, ensures that we can authentically engage with our employees and truly connect with our consumers.”

He added that around 40 per cent of Adidas’ Germany-based employees are foreign nationals, from over 100 different countries.

Siemens and BMW rank among Bavaria’s top employers, and are also known to hire their fair share of foreigners.

“In Germany, we recently had around 2,000 open positions,” Konstanze Somborn told The Local on behalf of Siemens AG.

He added that Siemens operates in 190 countries. “That is why we value international teams very much…English as a common language is very usual.”

READ ALSO: ‘Which German companies want to hire foreigners?’

Similarly, BMW hires workers from a variety of backgrounds.

“Every year, we hire lots of internationals and welcome them to the BMW Group,” Dr. Hans-Peter Ketterl, a press spokesman for BMW Group told The Local.

But not all of these positions are available to non-German speakers.

Ketterl added that BMW’s working language is German in the country, even though, “English is an indispensable entry requirement as the second corporate language in many areas of the company.”

Check job boards and follow best practices

If it’s your first time applying for jobs in Germany, make sure to change your resume to the German format, even for English positions.

While Germany is home to its own job boards, like Xing, LinkedIn is probably the best place to start. In addition to searching for positions based in your preferred location, you can check relevant groups, like Munich Startups, to broaden your horizons.

The English Jobs in Germany website is also a good resource to start with.

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