BERLIN, April 30 Reuters Europe39;s top automaker Volkswagen on Tuesday reiterated its revenue and margin targets for 2024 after posting a 20 drop in firstquarter operating profit hit by lower sales and higher costs, as it gears up to launch many new models.

As expected, our first quarter results show a slow start to the year, finance chief Arno Antlitz said, adding that rising orders in March would have a positive impact on its secondquarter results. We expect additional momentum over the course of the year from the launch of more than 30 new models across all brands.

In particular, the German automaker39;s luxury brand Porsche reported a 14.8 operating margin decline on higher model revamp investments and lower demand for premium cars in China. The company39;s earnings were also hampered by delivery delays at its luxury Audi brand.

Volkswagen said last week it aims to keep its Chinese market share roughly stable until the end of the decade, betting on heavy investment to support sales despite a raging price war with local electric vehicle EV rivals.

The automaker said its order book remains stable versus the end of 2023 and orders for fully electric vehicles more than doubled in the first quarter versus the same period last year.

Volkswagen said it still expects 2024 sales revenue to rise up to 5 and a fullyear operating profit margin of between 7 and 7.5.

Earnings before interest and taxes EBIT came in at 4.6 billion euros 4.92 billion in the JanuaryMarch…