Volkswagen faces a significant gap in the targeted savings for the core brand. According to a report by Handelsblatt, which cites two individuals familiar with the matter, the shortfall in the current measures this year amounts to between 2 billion and 3 billion euros. This discrepancy might force the company to increase its overall planned savings efforts to meet the targets.

The Wolfsburg-based automobile group had originally announced plans to implement savings of 10 billion euros in its core brand by 2026 to achieve a target return of 6.5 percent. However, with a recently reported margin of only 2.3 percent, this goal seems far off. A spokeswoman for the core brand declined to comment on the information when asked by Handelsblatt.

Volkswagen plans to provide internal management information on this topic in the coming days before the next company meeting takes place at the headquarters in Wolfsburg on September 4th.

The news about the potential failure to meet savings targets hardly affected Volkswagen's shares. In XETRA trading, VW shares were temporarily down 0.25 percent at 96.58 euros.

Analyst Patrick Hummel from the Swiss major bank UBS expressed skepticism in response to the report regarding the current cost-saving initiatives at the VW brand. He emphasized that the anticipated positive net effect from savings is significantly offset by the burden of adhering to CO2 regulations. These risks, combined with consistently high investments, could considerably diminish the targeted savings. Furthermore, after the first half of the year, no positive trend in fixed costs is evident.

UBS has maintained the rating for Volkswagen at "Sell" with a target price of 100 euros amid challenges. Hummel emphasized that he has always been skeptical of VW's savings initiatives and sees current developments as a confirmation of his concerns.