At the beginning of the year, German car manufacturers lost ground in terms of sales compared to their international competitors.
This emerges from an analysis of the world’s 19 largest automobile manufacturers by the auditing and consulting company EY. The sales of Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz Group and BMW fell by 4.3 percent from January to March of this year compared to the same quarter last year. However, all manufacturers considered collectively achieved an increase of 1.7 percent.
The other two European manufacturers, Stellantis and Renault, recorded a sales increase of 6.7 percent. US manufacturers were able to increase by five percent, Japanese car manufacturers by 4.3 percent. Chinese car manufacturers, on the other hand, recorded a decline of 1.4 percent.
When it came to operating profit (EBIT), the gap widened significantly, with special effects playing a role here. Overall, it fell by 32.4 percent to 17.2 billion euros. However, the Japanese manufacturer Honda Motor has taken billions in depreciation on electric cars, an EY spokesman said. The operating profit of German manufacturers fell by 23.3 percent, while the Chinese even recorded a decline of 43.4 percent. The US manufacturers Ford Motor, General Motors and Tesla, however, achieved an increase of 82.9 percent.
Reasons for US growth
In addition to shielding the US market from products from abroad, one reason for the significant profit growth of US manufacturers is, among other things, partially overturned import tariffs, which led to high repayments to the manufacturers, said EY auto expert Constantin Gall, according to a statement.
“The entire German one Auto industry is undergoing a profound structural change: the loss of foreign markets, expensive overcapacity, high software investments and a slow ramp-up of electromobility are weighing on the results,” said Gall. In addition, the German car companies are facing enormous headwinds, both in the USA and in China.
China problem
According to the analysis, the three German car manufacturers in China recorded a 16 percent decline in sales in the first quarter. “China remains one of the biggest problems for German companies,” said Gall. The market is extremely competitive and high-priced premium vehicles are selling poorly due to the weak economy. In the growing electronics segment, the Chinese preferred local brands. “There is currently little to gain for Western manufacturers,” says Gall.
VW shares are temporarily 0.34 percent higher at 88.90 euros on XETRA, Mercedes-Benz stocks are up 0.09 percent at 49.12 euros, and BMW shares are down 0.03 percent at 70.22 euros.
STUTTGART (dpa-AFX)
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