Audi down 20%

The German Audi AG said its pre-tax profit had dropped 20 percent year-over-year to 2.58 billion euros in the first half of 2019.

The company attributes these poor results to the challenges of moving to new global standards to reduce emissions and significant investment in new models and electric cars.

"The year 2019 has been a real test," said Alexander Zeits, chief financial officer of Audi, a subsidiary of Volkswagen. "Audi is pursuing a transformation plan that, he hopes, will save 1 billion euros.

With a turnover of 2.88 billion euros, Audi has sold 906,000 cars in 2019. The company currently invests 7.7% of its turnover in R & D. Audi hopes to increase its revenues in the second half.