Audi has $676 million in third-quarter costs, lowers profit guidance

Volkswagen's luxury division Audi has lowered its guidance for profitability this year on mounting costs of the diesel emissions scandal and possible recalls of cars fitted with Takata Corp <7312.T> airbags.

Audi said on Thursday it has "additional financial burdens" of 620 million euros ($676 million) in the third quarter. It did not say what these costs were related to.

Audi's operating margin should fall "considerably below" the carmaker's 8-10 percent target range, it said. In late July, the VW division had guided for its profitability benchmark to only slightly miss the target corridor.

Audi's parent VW is due to publish detailed third-quarter results on Thursday.

(Reporting by Andreas Cremer; Editing by Maria Sheahan)