Volkswagen Net Income Declines 31% in 2004

Volkswagen’s profit fell 31% in 2004 as the German automaker fought headwinds from the weak dollar in the U.S. market and sluggish consumer spending at home.

VW said its net income dropped to 677 million euros ($838.8 million) from 980 million euros in 2003 on sales that rose 4.9% to 88.96 billion euros ($110.6 billion).

Operating earnings fell 12% to 2 billion euros ($2.5 billion) from 2.3 billion euros, but still exceeded the company’s forecast of 1.9 billion euros ($2.4 billion).