NEWS

<p style="text-align: center;"><img title="1596095580423303.png" alt="6.png" src="/ueditor/php/upload/image/20200730/1596095580423303.png"/></p><p>Volkswagen&nbsp;unveiled a first-half operating loss on Thursday after suffering a 27% drop in vehicle deliveries due to the&nbsp;coronavirus&nbsp;pandemic, which forced the carmaker to slash its dividend.<br/><br/>Volkswagen predicted a significant decline in full-year sales from 2019 levels, even though it said global sales had staged a gradual recovery as lockdowns eased.<br/><br/>The multi-brand car and truck maker said it expects its 2020 operating result before and including special items to be severely lower than in 2019, albeit in positive territory.<br/><br/>The carmaker posted an adjusted operating loss of 800 million euros ($940 million) in the January to June period, down from a 10-billion euro adjusted&nbsp;operating profit&nbsp;in the year-earlier period, and said it will cut its dividend for 2019.<br/><br/>It proposed a dividend of 4.80 euros per ordinary share and 4.86 euros per preferred share, down from a previous proposal for 6.50 euros per ordinary share and 6.56 euros per preferred share.<br/><br/>By contrast, French rival PSA Group on Wednesday delivered a second-quarter profit and reiterated its goal of achieving margins of over 4.5% in its automotive unit this year, even though these were down to 3.7% in the first half.</p>