Volkswagen posts €5.8bn loss as China sales slump

Volkswagen reported a 5.8 billion euro, or $6.5 billion, loss for the third quarter as deliveries fell worldwide and dropped almost 40 percent in China.

The German carmaker said sales fell 6.3 percent in the quarter to 75.3 billion euros. Overall vehicle deliveries fell 14.3 percent.

Volkswagen reported a 1.1 billion euro loss in the same period last year.

The 10-brand group, which includes Audi, Seat and Skoda, has faced the costs of shifting to electric vehicles, weaker demand and intense competition in China.

Volkswagen warned last month of a 10 billion euro hit to annual profit, mainly because of a writedown in the value of its stake in Porsche, which is also struggling in China.

The company plans to cut 120,000 jobs across the group by 2030 to reduce costs. It said Thursday that the restructuring would cost 31 billion euros.

Chief financial officer Arno Antlitz said swift implementation was needed. Volkswagen said that without 8 billion euros in writedowns and restructuring costs in the quarter, its profit margin would have been 3.8 percent. Antlitz said that was not enough in the long term and warned that the company's ability to fund future investment was at stake.