Volkswagen Group has announced a €5.86 billion operating loss for the third quarter of 2026, marking another deterioration in the financial performance of a company long regarded as one of the foundations of German industrial strength.
The result, published on 29 October, compares with an operating loss of €1.3 billion in the corresponding period last year.
Quarterly revenue declined by 6.3 per cent to €75.3 billion, while vehicle deliveries fell by 14.3 per cent to approximately 1.89 million.
The figures highlight the scale of the challenges facing the automotive group, which includes Volkswagen, Audi, Porsche, Škoda and several other major European brands.
They also increase pressure on management to accelerate a restructuring programme involving substantial reductions in costs, employment and production capacity.
A substantial part of Volkswagen’s reported loss was attributable to exceptional charges, including a multibillion-euro reduction in the assessed value of its Porsche interests.
According to Volkswagen’s financial results, the group’s operating result for the first nine months of 2026 was just €71 million, compared with €5.4 billion during the equivalent period of 2025.
Excluding special items, the company recorded an operating profit of €8.8 billion for the nine-month period.
The distinction is important.
The latest results do not indicate that every part of Volkswagen’s underlying business is generating operating losses. However, they expose the financial consequences of weakened profitability, changes in business strategy and previous investment decisions.
The group’s operating margin before special items stood at 3.8 per cent.
Finance chief Arno Antlitz said this was insufficient to sustain the investment needed for future competitiveness.
Volkswagen’s difficulties have also coincided with pressure on Porsche, whose premium positioning has not insulated it from changing demand and competition in international markets.
China has been central to Volkswagen’s international business for decades, providing a major source of sales and earnings.
That position is increasingly challenged by domestic manufacturers offering competitive electric vehicles, advanced digital features and lower prices.
Chinese companies have expanded rapidly in their home market, often developing new models more quickly than established European manufacturers.
Volkswagen is therefore confronting a problem that extends beyond a cyclical slowdown in demand.
Its historical advantages in manufacturing scale, distribution and brand recognition no longer guarantee the same competitive position in a market undergoing technological transformation.
The company has acknowledged that the Chinese market is shrinking while competitive pressure in Europe is increasing.
American tariffs have created another complication, raising costs and constraining profitability in a market where the group already faces substantial competition.
Together, these developments have weakened the assumptions underpinning Volkswagen’s global manufacturing strategy.
Volkswagen has invested heavily in electrification, software development and new vehicle platforms.
Demand for its electric models in Europe remains significant.
The company reported that battery-electric vehicles account for 40 per cent of its European order book, while its Electric Urban Car Family has attracted approximately 150,000 orders.
However, increasing electric vehicle sales do not automatically produce higher profits.
Volkswagen acknowledges that its electric vehicles currently generate lower earnings than comparable combustion-engine models.
This creates a difficult financial transition.
The company must invest in technologies required to remain competitive while maintaining sufficient profitability to finance those investments.
At the same time, established European manufacturers face competition from Chinese producers with different cost structures and supply-chain arrangements.
The resulting pressure is not confined to Volkswagen. It affects suppliers, component manufacturers and other companies dependent on the European automotive industry.
Volkswagen’s deteriorating results have strengthened management’s argument for reducing production costs.
Reuters reported that chief executive Oliver Blume’s wider restructuring proposals could involve as many as 100,000 job reductions across the group, with up to four German factories potentially facing closure.
These remain restructuring proposals rather than completed measures.
Volkswagen’s own Future Plan 2030 includes a cost-reduction programme worth approximately €31 billion, combining €20 billion in operational savings with €11 billion in lower overhead costs.
The company is also seeking an additional reduction of 12,000 positions at Volkswagen AG by 2030, with negotiations covering the proposed measures.
Management and the IG Metall union have agreed to begin talks on 24 November at the Emden plant, followed by another round in Zwickau on 15 December.
The negotiations are likely to prove consequential for industrial relations in Germany, where Volkswagen operates within a system of employee representation and collective bargaining that gives workers considerable influence over restructuring decisions.
Volkswagen’s difficulties reflect several pressures facing European manufacturing.
High energy costs, international trade restrictions, technological competition and the expense of industrial transformation are affecting the profitability of established producers.
Europe’s automotive industry also supports extensive supplier networks, research facilities and skilled employment across several EU countries.
A sustained contraction in German vehicle production would therefore have implications beyond Germany itself, particularly for neighbouring economies integrated into automotive supply chains.
For EU policymakers, the challenge is to reconcile industrial competitiveness with decarbonisation objectives and the need to preserve manufacturing investment.
Volkswagen’s latest results do not determine the future of European car production. They do, however, demonstrate that the transition towards new technologies is taking place under considerably more difficult commercial conditions than many manufacturers anticipated.
The group’s restructuring negotiations will provide an early indication of how those costs are to be distributed between shareholders, employees and the industrial regions that depend on its factories.
Angela Eagle tells industry ‘people are sick of excuses’ as pollution levels remain high despite billions in investment
Angela Eagle, the environment secretary, has summoned water industry bosses to Whitehall after a report found that the environmental performance of the big companies has worsened despite investment.
“People are sick of excuses,” Dame Angela said, after the Environment Agency joined the Drinking Water Inspectorate, Natural Resources Wales and Ofwat for a joint report that rated eight of the nine water companies in England as “poor” or “requiring improvement”.
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© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Drones attacked Sterlitamak in Russia’s Bashkortostan on 29 October, and smoke rose over the Bashkir Soda Company, Russian Telegram channel Astra reported, citing its open-source analysis. The city’s mayor admitted debris fell on an unnamed plant.
Ukraine’s long-range drones keep reaching deeper into the industries that feed Russia’s war. In the past five days, a nitric acid maker in Tula Oblast, a rocket-fuel rubber plant in Samara Oblast, and a titanium plant in the Urals came under attack. The Sterlitamak plant lies about 1,310 km from the front line. Drones also attacked it on 27 August, Astra says. Ukraine has not commented.
The Bashkir Soda Company is Russia’s largest producer of soda ash and baking soda, and part of the Roskhim chemical holding. It is also Russia’s only maker of terephthaloyl chloride, The Insider reported, citing the company’s website. The website also mentions deliveries to the defense industry.
The compound goes into aramid fibers, Kevlar-type materials used for body armor, helmets, and armor for military vehicles and aircraft, Astra said. Astra also says the company sits on the Russian Industry and Trade Ministry’s closed register of defense enterprises.
The attack began around dawn. Ukrainian Telegram channel Exilenova+ posted footage of a drone over the city. Supernova+, another Ukrainian monitoring channel, posted the plant’s coordinates and photos of smoke. Russia’s aviation agency restricted flights at the airport of Ufa, the region’s capital. Pro-Ukrainian X account Maks 26 shared footage of the attacks on Sterlitamak and Luhansk. It also suggested that Sterlitamak’s Syntez-Kauchuk rubber plant may have been the target, and claimed a fire at the Marinovka air base in Volgograd Oblast.
— MAKS 26
Mayor Emil Shaimardanov claimed air defenses downed all seven drones over the city. An earlier version of his post, quoted by Russian state news agency TASS, said eight.
“Debris fell on the territory of one of the enterprises. Minor damage was caused, the plant is operating normally,” Shaimardanov claimed.
He did not name the plant.
The Insider said NASA’s FIRMS fire map confirmed a fire at the plant. But the map shows only the weak heat source its satellites record there almost every night, the last time hours before the drones came, and nothing new after the attack.
Moscow Mayor Sergei Sobyanin claimed that 613 drones flew toward the Moscow region overnight, that most were downed on the far approaches, and that 231 were downed on approach to the capital. Russia’s aviation agency restricted flights at Vnukovo, Domodedovo, and Zhukovsky airports. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed it downed 1,214 drones over 19 regions overnight.
Ukraine’s General Staff said its forces hit a depot of Geran drones, Russia’s version of the Iranian Shahed, along with a drone launch site and a fuel depot near Navlya in Bryansk Oblast, about 70 km from the Ukrainian border. The Atesh partisan movement reported a loud explosion near Oryol’s airfield and a large fire in Lipetsk, about 285 km from the border.
Subscribers of Crimean monitoring channel Krymsky Veter reported drones and then a strong explosion with Russian air defenses firing in Krasnoperekopsk, in occupied Crimea, about 95 km from the front line.
In occupied Luhansk, about 105 km from the front line, residents reported another attack on Lugacom, the occupation’s mobile operator, and internet outages followed, Exilenova+ said. The channel named only Lugacom. The operator sits in the seized Ukrtelecom building. Exilenova+ also posted footage of a fire in the city.
— Exilenova+ (@Exilenova_plus) October 29, 2026
Leonid Pasechnik, the Russian-installed head of the occupied part of Luhansk Oblast, claimed that 150,000 customers in six municipalities lost power after attacks on energy facilities.
Owner Gordon Brothers files notice of intent to begin process after rejecting management-backed rescue bid
The shop workers’ union Usdaw has urged Poundland’s owners to reconsider a decision to prepare the budget chain for administration, putting up to 12,000 jobs at risk.
Gordon Brothers filed a notice of intention to appoint administrators to Poundland at the high court on Thursday, with the advisory firm AlixPartners lined up to run the process.
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© Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Justin Tallis/AFP/Getty Images
Energy firm to return $5bn to shareholders as climate campaigners criticise high profits
Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter after the Middle East conflict drove up the price of oil and gas and created shortages in the global market.
Shell reported on Thursday morning that it made an adjusted profit of $10.8bn (£8.1bn) in the July-September quarter, up from $5.432bn in the third quarter of 2025. The results beat analyst expectations for a rise to $10.33bn.
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© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
Sanrio ends association with TV drama Vivant after China says portrayal of ruthless Chinese agents is ‘deliberate smear’
The company behind the successful Hello Kitty franchise has apologised and ended its commercial tie-up with a Japanese TV drama after Chinese state media and netizens condemned the show’s “deliberate smears” against China.
Sanrio, a Japanese firm whose characters are popular around the world, said in a post on the Chinese social media site Weibo that it had decided to end its association with the TV drama Vivant after concluding that it “contained elements inconsistent with Sanrio’s core values”.
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© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Melville/Reuters
Energy firm to return $5bn to shareholders as climate campaigners criticise high profits
Shell has doubled its profits in the last quarter after the Middle East conflict drove up the price of oil and gas and created shortages in the global market.
Shell reported on Thursday morning that it made an adjusted profit of $10.8bn (£8.1bn) in the July-September quarter, up from $5.432bn in the third quarter of 2025. The results beat analyst expectations for a rise to $10.33bn.
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© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
© Photograph: Piroschka Van De Wouw/Reuters
Poland has been selected to host a major European maintenance centre for Patriot air defence interceptors, marking a further expansion of the country’s role in NATO’s military infrastructure and the transatlantic defence industry.
The decision, announced on 27 October by the United States government and American defence manufacturer Lockheed Martin, will establish a dedicated facility for PAC-3 missiles used in Patriot air and missile defence systems.
The investment is estimated at approximately one billion zlotys, equivalent to around €227 million.
Poland secured the project following competition with Germany, the Netherlands and Norway.
The facility is intended to provide maintenance, repair, refurbishment and technical recertification services to European operators of PAC-3 interceptors.
Its importance extends beyond the immediate economic benefits for Poland.
The wars in Ukraine and the Middle East have exposed pressure on the availability of advanced air defence missiles, raising questions about Europe’s ability to sustain military operations when demand for interceptors exceeds existing supply.
Deputy Defence Minister Magdalena Sobkowiak-Czarnecka announced the selection of Poland as the location for the maintenance centre.
According to Lockheed Martin’s official announcement, the facility will support NATO allies operating PAC-3 interceptors through repairs, lifecycle maintenance, refurbishment and recertification.
The centre will also provide testing capabilities intended to improve operational readiness and reduce the time required to return missiles to service.
The exact location and final implementation arrangements remain subject to further negotiations.
Polish officials have indicated that the centre could become operational in approximately a year, although the schedule will depend on the conclusion of agreements and construction or adaptation of the necessary facilities.
The project is expected to create specialised employment and increase opportunities for Polish defence suppliers.
It also reinforces Poland’s position as a manufacturing and logistics centre on NATO’s eastern flank.
An important distinction concerns the facility’s actual purpose.
The Polish centre will maintain and service PAC-3 missiles. It is not being presented as a new production line capable of manufacturing large quantities of additional interceptors.
Modern air defence missiles contain complex guidance systems, propulsion components and other equipment requiring specialised inspection and maintenance.
Their operational availability depends not only on the number produced but also on the ability to store, test, maintain and recertify existing stocks.
When these services are concentrated outside Europe, operators may face lengthy transport and servicing arrangements.
Locating maintenance capacity closer to European users should reduce some of those delays.
However, the facility will not independently resolve shortages caused by the consumption of missiles during military operations.
Additional manufacturing capacity, access to components and long-term procurement agreements remain necessary to increase overall inventories.
Patriot systems have become particularly important because of their role in defending military facilities, population centres and critical infrastructure against aircraft and missiles.
Ukraine has repeatedly requested additional Patriot interceptors to protect cities and energy installations from Russian attacks.
At the same time, the conflict in the Middle East has increased demand for advanced air defence capabilities.
Both theatres place pressure on supply chains whose production capacity cannot be expanded immediately.
Manufacturing sophisticated interceptors involves specialised components, qualified suppliers, extensive testing and demanding certification procedures.
The result is a gap between the speed at which missiles can be expended during sustained operations and the time required to replace them.
The United States has undertaken efforts to accelerate PAC-3 production.
Lockheed Martin announced that it had received a major US government contract in 2026 to support further expansion of PAC-3 MSE manufacturing.
The planned maintenance centre in Poland represents a complementary investment, intended to improve the availability of missiles already held by European forces.
Although Poland will host the facility, the project has a wider European dimension.
Germany, the Netherlands and Sweden are expected to participate in important elements of supply-chain integration.
These countries were among the original participants in the industrial cooperation arrangements alongside Poland and the United States.
The structure reflects NATO’s increasing emphasis on dispersing critical maintenance and logistical capabilities across allied territory.
A geographically distributed system can reduce dependence on individual sites and make it easier to sustain equipment during periods of disruption.
It can also help European defence companies develop technical expertise through cooperation with American manufacturers.
However, the arrangement will remain part of a transatlantic supply chain, with significant industrial and technological responsibilities retained by the United States.
The project therefore illustrates both Europe’s expanding defence-industrial role and its continuing dependence on American missile technology.
The decision complements Poland’s broader investment in integrated air and missile defence.
Under the Wisła programme, Warsaw has been acquiring Patriot systems and associated interceptors as part of a wider modernisation of its armed forces.
Two Patriot batteries reached operational readiness in December 2025, according to Euronews’ reporting on the project.
Poland has also ordered additional batteries and substantial quantities of PAC-3 MSE missiles, with deliveries continuing through the remainder of the decade.
These investments are intended to improve protection against aircraft, cruise missiles and ballistic missile threats.
The maintenance centre should complement those acquisitions by strengthening technical support for the interceptors.
The Polish investment demonstrates how NATO’s air defence priorities are changing.
For many years, procurement discussions concentrated primarily on purchasing new weapons systems.
The experience of prolonged conflicts has placed greater emphasis on ammunition availability, repair facilities, spare parts, storage and industrial capacity.
Those supporting capabilities determine how long military forces can sustain operations.
The new centre will not eliminate the need for additional missiles, but it could reduce servicing delays and improve the readiness of European stocks.
Its effectiveness will ultimately depend on the scale of operations, access to components and the speed with which maintenance services can be delivered.
For Poland, hosting the facility strengthens its position within NATO’s defence-industrial network.
For the Alliance, it represents an attempt to address one of the practical weaknesses exposed by recent conflicts: acquiring advanced weapons is only part of the challenge; keeping them available for use is equally important.
Romania has accused Russia of coordinating a cross-border sabotage network responsible for an industrial fire near an arms manufacturing facility, prompting a diplomatic confrontation with Moscow and investigations involving several European countries.
Romanian intelligence and prosecutors announced on 26th October that they had identified three foreign nationals allegedly involved in the operation, which caused a fire on an industrial site in Brașov on 14th September.
The suspects, two Belarusian nationals and one Ukrainian, are alleged to have participated in a network directed by individuals operating from Russia.
Two suspects have been detained in Germany, while a third has been located in Poland.
Romania is seeking their extradition as investigators examine possible connections to other attempted attacks against military and industrial installations.
Russia has rejected the allegations.
The case has drawn attention to the security of European defence production facilities at a time when NATO governments are seeking to increase military manufacturing capacity and sustain assistance to Ukraine.
The investigation concerns an industrial complex in Brașov, a city with an established defence manufacturing sector.
The fire occurred on 14th September at premises situated close to CARFIL SA, a subsidiary of Romania’s state-owned defence company ROMARM.
According to the Romanian Intelligence Service, the incident was caused by individuals belonging to a sabotage network coordinated from the Russian Federation.
The fire damaged premises occupied by several commercial businesses.
Although the industrial site is associated with the CARFIL complex, authorities have not established publicly that the arms manufacturing facility itself sustained damage.
That geographical distinction is important when assessing the consequences of the operation.
CARFIL manufactures military equipment and ammunition and has pursued partnerships involving drones, explosives and other defence technologies.
Its proximity to the incident has heightened concerns about the security of industrial facilities supporting Romania’s armed forces.
Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism, known as DIICOT, says the evidence connects three individuals to the incident.
According to Romanian national news agency AGERPRES, the Bucharest Court of Appeal issued European arrest warrants following the investigation.
Two suspects were detained in Germany while allegedly preparing similar operations.
The third was located in Poland, where authorities received a further European arrest warrant issued on 26 October.
Romanian prosecutors are pursuing extradition procedures.
The nationalities of the suspects do not establish responsibility on the part of Belarus or Ukraine. Romanian authorities attribute the alleged coordination to individuals based in Russia.
The investigation also indicates that the Brașov incident may not have been an isolated operation.
Romanian intelligence claims the network’s potential targets included government-owned and private arms manufacturers, military-related facilities and other strategic industrial sites in several European countries.
Those claims remain subject to ongoing criminal investigation.
The Romanian government escalated the matter diplomatically on 27th October.
Foreign Minister Dan Neculăescu summoned Russia’s ambassador, Vladimir Lipaev, to deliver a formal protest concerning the alleged operation.
According to the Romanian Foreign Ministry’s account reported by AGERPRES, Bucharest stated that evidence gathered during the investigation demonstrated Russian responsibility.
The ministry described the operation as part of a broader pattern of hostile activity affecting European states.
President Nicușor Dan also condemned the alleged sabotage, linking it to attempts to undermine European security and solidarity.
Moscow rejected the accusations.
The Russian Embassy maintained that the allegations were unfounded and disputed Romania’s account of the evidence presented during the diplomatic meeting.
The conflicting positions mean the attribution remains contested, notwithstanding the conclusions announced by Romania’s intelligence authorities.
The Romanian Intelligence Service has provided details about how it believes the wider network recruits and directs participants.
According to its statement, recruitment can begin through social media with offers of payment for apparently minor activities, such as photographing or observing particular locations.
Subsequent assignments may become more serious, involving property destruction, arson or other acts of violence.
Individuals may be targeted because of financial difficulties or other personal vulnerabilities.
The service also identified methods allegedly used to conceal movements, payments and communications.
These include encrypted messaging applications, telephone numbers registered outside the country of operation and accommodation or transport arrangements booked under other identities.
Such methods can complicate investigations because the individuals physically carrying out an operation may have limited knowledge of the organisers.
Romanian authorities emphasised that individual indicators should be assessed in context and do not themselves prove involvement in sabotage.
The case has implications beyond Romania.
European governments are investing in ammunition production, air defence systems and military technologies, partly in response to the continuing war in Ukraine.
The resulting expansion of manufacturing capacity creates additional infrastructure requiring protection.
Industrial sites may be vulnerable not only to direct attacks but also to disruption affecting nearby businesses, transport networks, power supplies and specialist contractors.
The Brașov investigation illustrates how an incident outside a defence factory’s perimeter can nevertheless raise questions about the security of the wider industrial complex.
It also demonstrates the importance of cooperation between European intelligence services and criminal investigators.
The detention of suspects in Germany and the identification of another in Poland show that investigations into alleged sabotage may cross several jurisdictions.
Romania’s allegations come amid growing concern over hostile activities involving cyberattacks, disinformation, surveillance and physical sabotage.
Attributing such incidents to a foreign government requires intelligence assessments, criminal evidence and international cooperation.
The public allegations against Russia do not replace the judicial process concerning the three suspects.
However, the investigation has already prompted a diplomatic response and additional scrutiny of industrial security.
For European governments seeking to expand their defence industries, the immediate challenge is protecting production facilities and associated infrastructure without allowing relatively small-scale disruptive operations to undermine wider manufacturing programmes.
The outcome of Romania’s criminal proceedings will be important in establishing the responsibility of those accused and clarifying how the alleged network operated across national borders.
Campaigners say costly new funds will lead to higher bills, which company denies
A group of creditors to troubled Thames Water are poised to vote on whether to grant an emergency £2.4bn loan to keep the company afloat, as campaigners raise concerns it could add £40 to each household’s bills in interest alone.
A consortium of creditors, called London & Valley Water, will vote on Thursday on whether to increase a funding facility for the debt-laden utility company to £5.4bn to keep it operating to autumn 2027.
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© Photograph: Toby Shepheard/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Shepheard/Reuters
© Photograph: Toby Shepheard/Reuters
CBS News editor-in-chief sidesteps viewership concerns and says flagship show doing ‘tremendously well’
CBS News editor-in-chief Bari Weiss has spoken publicly for the first time about the ratings challenges the network has experienced under her year-long tenure, sidestepping concerns about diminished viewership at the Sunday show 60 Minutes by saying it was not her top priority.
“I could never build anything if I were focused on the precise number of people that happen to tune in to the second feature on 60 Minutes on a given Sunday,” she said at an industry conference on Wednesday organized by the tech publication the Information. The news organization did not offer press credentials.
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© Photograph: Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press
© Photograph: Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press
© Photograph: Noam Galai/Getty Images for The Free Press
© Almaas Masood/Reuters
Democrats urge FTC to tackle ‘systemic failure’ of biggest convenience and dollar stores over pricing practices after Guardian investigations
Thirty-four members of Congress are calling on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate reports of widespread overcharging by some of America’s most-recognized brand-name retailers.
The 28 October letter to the FTC comes in direct response to Guardian investigations of four of the nation’s largest dollar-store and convenience-store chains. Both investigations revealed pervasive mismatches between shelf labels and register prices.
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© Photograph: Erin Scott/Reuters
© Photograph: Erin Scott/Reuters
© Photograph: Erin Scott/Reuters
Jonathan Reynolds’ team has written to Gordon Brothers, which bought retailer for £1 last summer, to ‘establish the facts’
The business secretary’s team has written to the owner of Poundland amid fears that the cut-price retailer could collapse into administration, threatening to overshadow John Healey’s budget.
Sources said that Gordon Brothers, the US investment firm that bought the 600-store Poundland chain for £1 last summer, looks set to appoint administrators to the struggling retailer.
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© Photograph: Paula Solloway/Alamy
© Photograph: Paula Solloway/Alamy
© Photograph: Paula Solloway/Alamy
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