Volkswagen said on Wednesday it expects profit margins this year towards the bottom end of its forecast, the latest automaker to strike a downbeat tone as an industry already pressured by costs and competition grapples with tariff uncertainty.

Europe's biggest carmaker reported operating profit of 2.9 billion euros ($3.3 billion) for the first three months of the year.

Europe's largest carmaker Volkswagen said Wednesday that first quarter profit plunged due to higher costs as it warned of muted business for the rest of the year in the wake of trade tensions.