Volkswagen Group reported a 21.8% jump in operating profit for Q1 to EUR2.9bn (US$4bn) from EUR2.3bn a year ago boosted by record sales for its Audi and Porsche divisions.

Audi sales were up 11.7% and Porsche sales up 4.5% for the quarter.

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Sales revenue grew by 2.7% to EUR47.8bn while profit before tax amounted to EUR3.4bn from EUR2.7bn in the same period last year.

But the group remained cautious on its outlook for 2014, sticking to its forecast in February that sales revenue would remain largely flat, moving within a range of 3% around last year’s amount. This is despite the fact that major European markets, which account for 40% of group sales, have reported sales growth for seven consecutive months.

It also forecast a return on sales of between 5.5 and 6.5%, somewhat below the levels reported by Toyota at 8.8% and Hyundai at 9% in 2013.

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The group noted that weak currencies of key emerging economies pushed prices up and put pressure on demand, offsetting greater buoyancy in other regions.

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“These challenges mean that it is more important than ever that we focus on three key action areas: firstly, disciplined cost and investment management, secondly, our profitability targets and thirdly, improved profitability in all regions,” said chief financial officer Hans Dieter Pötsch.

Audi’s operating profit was on a level with the prior-year period, at EUR1.3bn, while Skoda’s jumped 65.2% to EUR185m. SEAT improved its losses by EUR10m to EUR36m. Bentley’s position also improved with operating profit up 65.7% to EUR45m. Porsche’s operating profit climbed from EUR573m to EUR698m.

There were also gains at VW’s commercial vehicle division, Scania and MAN while financial services was on a par with last year, reporting an operating profit of EUR353m.