VARTA statistics span two related but different populations: VARTA AG Group reporting and the VARTA Automotive brand page, which identifies Clarios as the operator behind the automotive business. The figures below keep those boundaries, dates, units and company-reported limitations explicit.
Key VARTA Statistics
The most useful headline figures are:
- In FY 2024, VARTA AG Group revenue was €793.2 million.
- In FY 2023, VARTA AG Group revenue was €820.3 million.
- In FY 2024, reported VARTA AG EBITDA was negative €3.5 million.
- In FY 2023, reported VARTA AG EBITDA was €25.5 million.
- At 31 December 2023, VARTA AG reported 3,999 employees worldwide in its Group reporting population.
- In 2023, more than 2,700 VARTA employees were specialists in Germany.
- In 2023, renewable energy represented 71.4% of energy consumption at VARTA AG production sites.
- In 2023, VARTA AG production sites consumed 71,020 MWh of energy.
- In 2023, Ellwangen consumed 29,630 MWh of energy.
- In 2023, VARTA AG production sites withdrew 43,630 m³ of water from third parties.
- In 2023, total production-site waste generation was 3,885 tonnes.
- In 2023, 61% of total production waste was recycled.
- In 2022, battery collection partners collected 51% of batteries placed on the German market.
- In 2022, 93% of batteries collected by those German partners were recycled.
- The VARTA Automotive page states that 100% of lead vehicle batteries in Europe are collected and recycled, although it does not specify a period or full measurement scope.
- The VARTA Automotive page states that vehicle-battery production uses 25% less energy and 35% less water under its environmental comparison, without specifying the baseline or period.
Contents
- VARTA revenue, EBITDA and business scale
- VARTA workforce and employee statistics
- VARTA energy-use statistics and renewable trends
- VARTA water-use data by site and year
- VARTA waste, recycling and battery-collection statistics
- VARTA Automotive adoption, efficiency and circularity claims
VARTA Revenue, EBITDA and Business Scale
VARTA AG Group revenue was €793.2 million in FY 2024, compared with €820.3 million in FY 2023. These are Group figures, not VARTA Automotive vehicle-battery sales alone.
| VARTA AG Group measure | FY 2023 | FY 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| Revenue | €820.3 million | €793.2 million |
| Reported EBITDA | €25.5 million | -€3.5 million |
| Adjusted EBITDA | €50.4 million | €30.6 million |
Reported EBITDA and adjusted EBITDA are different measures: adjusted EBITDA is company-defined and should not be read as a replacement for reported EBITDA. The financial figures come from VARTA AG reports results for transition year 2024.
The 2023 sustainability report also classified €672.9 million, or 82.0% of revenue, as EU taxonomy-eligible and €147.4 million, or 18.0%, as taxonomy-non-eligible. Taxonomy eligibility is not the same as taxonomy alignment; within the taxonomy table, manufacture of batteries represented 14.0% of taxonomy-eligible but non-aligned revenue.
These classifications describe the FY 2023 Group taxonomy table, not a claim that 14.0% of total company revenue came from battery manufacture. The source is the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2023.
VARTA Workforce and Employee Statistics
VARTA AG reported 3,999 employees at 31 December 2023. The report notes that the headcount excludes some self-employed and non-salaried workers abroad, so it should be read as a reporting-population measure.
| Workforce measure, 31 December 2023 | Count | Share or scope |
|---|---|---|
| Female employees | 1,786 | 44.7% |
| Male employees | 2,213 | 55.3% |
| Permanent employees | 3,921 | Group headcount category |
| Temporary employees | 78 | Group headcount category |
| Full-time employees | 3,493 | Group headcount category |
| Part-time employees | 506 | Group headcount category |
More than 2,700 employees were specialists in Germany in 2023. The new-hire cohort included 69 women, or 35.9%, and 123 men, or 64.1%; 188 new employees, or 97.9%, were in Europe, while 95, or 49.5%, were in Germany.
The collective-agreement coverage table recorded 3,194 employees in EEA countries and 594 in non-EEA countries. These are coverage-table populations, not a replacement for the Group headcount.
VARTA reported 132 employees taking family-related leave in 2023, with men accounting for 43% of leave takers. Sustainability training reached 1,400 employees during the year.
Workforce definitions and limitations are reported in the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2023.
VARTA Energy-Use Statistics and Renewable Trends
VARTA AG production-site energy consumption was 71,020 MWh in 2023, down from 85,571 MWh in 2022 and 80,846 MWh in 2021, while the 2020 figure was 66,591 MWh. These figures use the production-site boundary stated in the report.
| Year | Total energy consumption | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 66,591 MWh | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2021 | 80,846 MWh | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2022 | 85,571 MWh | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2023 | 71,020 MWh | VARTA AG production sites |
The 2023 energy mix was 71.4% renewable and 28.6% fossil. Natural-gas consumption was 16,356 MWh, while purchased electricity from fossil sources was 2,895 MWh.
Energy intensity was 17.8 MWh per headcount and 86.6 MWh per € million of net revenue in 2023. The report uses headcount and net revenue as the respective denominators, so these are not product-level efficiency measures.
Site-level consumption was 29,630 MWh at Ellwangen, 22,684 MWh at Nördlingen, and 15,222 MWh combined at Dischingen and Neunheim. The energy data and definitions are from the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2023.
VARTA Water-Use Data by Site and Year
Total water withdrawal from third parties was 43,630 m³ in 2023, compared with 49,477 m³ in 2022, 46,184 m³ in 2021 and 45,925 m³ in 2020. Withdrawal means water taken from third parties; it is not the same measure as water consumption.
| Year | Water withdrawal | Boundary |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | 45,925 m³ | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2021 | 46,184 m³ | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2022 | 49,477 m³ | VARTA AG production sites |
| 2023 | 43,630 m³ | VARTA AG production sites |
In 2023, Ellwangen withdrew 18,646 m³, Nördlingen withdrew 4,328 m³ and Batam withdrew 9,122 m³. Water-withdrawal intensity was 10.9 m³ per headcount and 53.2 m³ per € million of net revenue.
Reported water consumption was 5,668 m³ in 2023, but the report says consumption was reported for selected sites. It therefore should not be treated as interchangeable with the production-site withdrawal total.
The water figures and scope notes come from the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2023.
VARTA Waste, Recycling and Battery-Collection Statistics
VARTA AG production sites generated 3,885 tonnes of waste in 2023. Non-hazardous waste accounted for 2,619 tonnes and hazardous waste for 1,266 tonnes, while 61% of total production waste was recycled.
The company reported that total waste generation fell by more than 24% versus 2022. Because the source states “more than 24%,” it is not an exact calculated percentage.
| Waste measure | 2023 result | Scope |
|---|---|---|
| Total waste | 3,885 tonnes | Production sites |
| Non-hazardous waste | 2,619 tonnes | Production sites |
| Hazardous waste | 1,266 tonnes | Production sites |
| Recycled share | 61% | Total production waste |
For Germany in 2022, battery collection partners achieved a 51% collection rate for batteries placed on the German market. Of the batteries collected by those partners, 93% were recycled; these are partner collection-system statistics, not VARTA-only collection rates.
An older VARTA sustainability report recorded 5,154 tonnes of total waste across five listed sites in 2022 and 3,002 tonnes recycled across those sites. The boundary and site naming differ from the 2023 production-site reporting, so the older figures should not be treated as a like-for-like time series.
The 2023 figures are in the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2023, while the older site-boundary data is in the VARTA AG Sustainability Report 2022.
VARTA Automotive Adoption, Efficiency and Circularity Claims
VARTA Automotive is not the same reporting population as VARTA AG. The official VARTA Automotive page identifies Clarios as the company behind the brand and states that Clarios has 18,000 employees and operates in over 100 countries.
The page states that 100% of lead vehicle batteries in Europe are collected and recycled. This is presented as a company claim, and the page does not specify the measurement period or full scope, so it should not be combined directly with VARTA AG’s German partner collection rate.
The same page states that vehicle-battery production uses 25% less energy and 35% less water under its environmental comparison. The comparison baseline and period are not specified on the page, making these estimates unsuitable for direct comparison with the VARTA AG production-site energy and water series.
Finally, the page states that using an AGM battery’s fuel-saving functions reduces carbon emissions by 8%. Driving conditions and the comparison baseline are not specified, so this is a brand claim rather than a general outcome for every vehicle or driver.
These Automotive figures, workforce claims and limitations are from Explore everything about VARTA | VARTA Automotive Batteries.