Volkswagen

The European edition of the Fortune 500, ranking companies by revenue.

Fortune 500 Europe

The corporations on our annual list of the world's 500 largest companies combined to generate $41.7 trillion in revenue over the past year.

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Europe’s largest company, Volkswagen is also the world’s biggest automobile manufacturer by revenue, though it falls behind Japanese giant Toyota by car volume and Tesla for market capitalization. Its eponymous brand is one of 10 in the group, alongside the Czech Republic’s SKODA, Spain’s SEAT and Cupra, Italy’s Lamborghini and motorbike maker Ducati, Britain’s Bentley and fellow German brands Audi and Porsche. The fractious Porsche-Piëch family has been connected with Volkswagen since patriarch Ferdinand Porsche designed the latter’s famous Beetle, and has controlled the group since the late 2000s. It is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany.

The corporations on our annual list posted aggregate revenues of $41 trillion for the second year in a row.

The corporations on our annual list of the world’s largest companies delivered a record $41 trillion in aggregate revenues.

G500-2023-Volkswagen

The German automaker fell seven spots on the Global 500 as it struggled with supply-chain and logistics issues, echoes of a COVID-induced supply-chain crisis that continues to bedevil corporations during the post-pandemic rebound. 
<ul> 
 	<li>Revenue for the firm dropped about 1% from 2021, and profits dipped 16%. The firm’s vehicle deliveries fell 7% to 8,263,000 in 2022 from 8,882,000 the year prior. Its 2022 total is the fewest vehicles VW has shipped to customers in over a decade.</li> 
 	<li>In September 2022, Herbert Diess, the automotive giant's CEO for roughly eight years, stepped down and was replaced by Oliver Blume, CEO of Porsche, a VW brand.</li> 
 	<li>In March 2023, in an apparent bid to step up its competition with Tesla, Volkswagen announced that it would steer two-thirds of the $190 billion it plans to invest from 2023 to 2027 to “electrification and digitalization.”</li> 
</ul>

The first-ever European edition of the Fortune 500, ranking companies by revenue. 

F500-Europe-Volkswagon

If Volkswagen had expected a clear path out of the COVID-19 pandemic, it was to be disappointed. Last year brought a global semiconductor shortage, with the Ukraine war and persistent lockdowns in China adding to supply chain and logistics woes. Earnings fell 16.3% year on year to $15.2 billion in 2022, off $293.7 billion in revenue.   
<ul> 
 	<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Verdana" data-listid="6" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;●&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="1" data-aria-level="1">The group’s flagship brand has set a mission to slash over $10 billion in annual costs by 2026, as it seeks to lift margins, which dipped slightly last year.   </li> 
 	<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Verdana" data-listid="6" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;●&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="2" data-aria-level="1">Like others in the auto sector, Volkswagen is undergoing a rapid transition away from combustion engines. It is targeting 70% of European unit sales from electric vehicles by 2030, while two thirds of its $190 billion investment budget for 2023–2027 will be allocated to “electrification and digitalization”.    </li> 
 	<li data-leveltext="●" data-font="Verdana" data-listid="6" data-list-defn-props="{&quot;335552541&quot;:1,&quot;335559684&quot;:-2,&quot;335559685&quot;:720,&quot;335559991&quot;:360,&quot;469769226&quot;:&quot;Verdana&quot;,&quot;469769242&quot;:[8226],&quot;469777803&quot;:&quot;left&quot;,&quot;469777804&quot;:&quot;●&quot;,&quot;469777815&quot;:&quot;multilevel&quot;}" data-aria-posinset="3" data-aria-level="1">Although turnover, operating profit and deliveries all rebounded in the first half of 2023, the group had to reduce its sales target for the year amid weak demand and tough competition in China.</li> 
</ul>

Just as it dominates our economy, Big Tech now dominates Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation.

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Aggregate sales hit $37.8 trillion last year—an increase of 19%, the highest annual growth rate in the list’s history.

G500 2022-08-Volkswagen

The German automaker made headway on its ambitious goal to overtake Tesla in the electric vehicle market by 2025; it doubled its EV production in 2021. Yet Tesla still far outpaces Volkswagen—VW delivered 452,000 EVs globally in 2021 compared with Tesla’s 936,172. Volkswagen has set other lofty goals for its EV business: By 2030, Volkswagen wants half of its total sales to come from EVs, up from 7.5% in 2021. To meet its targets, Volkswagen has set aside $100 billion for EV production expenditures to be used by 2026; committed to constructing six factories for its new battery company, PowerCo, by 2030; and started producing its bestselling electric SUV, the ID.4, in Chattanooga. In the U.S., Volkswagen is also partnering with recycling startup Redwood Materials to operate its EV battery recycling program. VW sold 600,000 fewer cars overall in 2021 than the year prior as a result of the semiconductor shortage, but the carmaker still increased revenue by 16.5%, making good on its strategy to sell more higher-end models.

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Total revenue for the world’s biggest companies fell 4.8% to $31.7 trillion this year—the first decline in half a decade.

G500-2021-010-Volkswagen

Volkswagen marked 2020 with the launch of the all-important MEB platform, expected to underpin 19 million battery-electric vehicles over its lifetime. However, software problems overshadowed the launch of the VW ID.3 compact hatchback and crossover ID.4, adding to the Tesla fans’ taunts that Volkswagen can’t do tech. In response, in July 2021 CEO Herbert Diess unveiled a new strategy centered around two hardware-based and two software-based platforms to be shared across the group. By limiting complexity, Diess hopes to ensure no competitor can match these economies of scale. As a reward, the CEO received a two and a half year contract extension, meaning the Austrian will run the show until October 2025.

For an astounding 13th straight year, Apple claims the top spot in Fortune’s annual ranking of corporate reputation, based on a survey of almost 3,800 executives, directors, and analysts.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $33.3 trillion in revenues and $2.1 trillion in profits.

G500-2020-007-Volkswagen

Volkswagen, the highest-ranking automaker in this year's list, has had a turbulent year. Last September, CEO Herbert Diess and supervisory board chief Hans Dieter Pötsch were charged with alleged market manipulation over the 2015 Dieselgate scandal. In May, Volkswagen paid more than $10 million to settle the charges out of court and avoid a trial; the company also paid more than $900 million in February to settle a lawsuit by German consumers over the affair. Adding to its challenges, VW failed to get the German government to subsidize non-electric car purchases as part of its coronavirus stimulus plan. But the firm is betting big on a cleaner, smarter future. Its battery-powered, mass-market ID.3 car is set to come out later this year, and VW is investing billions in A.I., alongside partner Ford.

This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.7 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

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This year's Fortune Global 500 generated $27.6 trillion in revenues and $1.5 trillion in profits.

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The world's 500 largest companies generated $31.2 trillion in revenues and $1.7 trillion in profits in 2014. Together, this year's Fortune Global 500 employ 65 million people worldwide and are represented by 36 countries.

Global business is back. After limping through a worldwide financial crisis and economic slowdown, the 500 largest companies ranked by revenues shattered all sorts of performance records in 2013: They racked up combined revenues of $31.1 trillion, up 2.5% from 2012, and profits soared 27% to nearly $2 trillion. China’s 95 companies (up from 89 last year) posted $5.8 trillion in revenues. The U.S. has four fewer companies on the list than last year but remains (for now) the country leader, with 128 corporations on the list—including No. 1 Wal-Mart Stores—reporting $8.6 trillion in revenues. 

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Europe’s largest company, Volkswagen is a German automotive manufacturer. Founded in 1937, the brand built a global reputation with models like the Beetle, Golf, and Passat. The Porsche-Piëch family has been affiliated with Volkswagen since the patriarch Ferdinand Porsche designed the latter’s famous Beetle, and has controlled the group since the late 2000s. It is headquartered in Wolfsburg, Germany.

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Volkswagen | Fortune

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