Chip supply problems hit Audi

The global shortage of integrated circuits hit sales at upmarket German car maker Audi in the third quarter and led the company to reduce its forecast for the year on Friday, reported dpa.

Unit sales are now expected only to reach the levels posted last year, which was badly hit by the pandemic, while sales will be "moderately" higher, chief financial officer Juergen Rittersberger said from the company's headquarters in Ingolstadt.

Following a strong first half with record profits, Audi sold just 366,000 vehicles in the third quarter, around a quarter down on the second-quarter figure.

Tens of thousands of vehicle sales would be lost as a result of supply bottlenecks, Rittersberger said.

"We currently have reduced working hours repeatedly at Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm, in October as well. We hope that things will stabilize over the months ahead," he said.

VW's upmarket subsidiary is predicting a slight improvement in semiconductor supply at the start of next year, but believes that full normalization is some way off.

Third-quarter sales fell 13 per cent on the quarter to 11.2 billion euros (13.1 billion dollars), with operating profit down slightly at 740 million euros. Return on sales came in at 6.6 per cent, lower than the predicted range.

Audi is focusing on its more profitable models and is able to reduce discounts to buyers amid shortages. This allowed it to raise its prediction for return on sales for this year to a range of between 9 and 11 per cent, up from between 7 and 9 per cent.