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The global auto industry is already in better shape than it was before the Corona slump

2021-06-04T02:53:13.339Z


More than 400 billion euros in sales in the first quarter: According to a study, the world's largest car manufacturers are now mostly doing better than before the corona pandemic. But delivery problems threaten the boom.


Enlarge image

Freight train with new cars in Dresden: Progress in fixed costs

Photo: Robert Michael / dpa

Despite the switch to electric drives, business in the automotive industry is flourishing again around the world.

According to a study, it already implemented more in the first quarter of 2021 and also earned more money operationally than before the corona crisis.

According to the industry survey by the consulting firm EY, the profit of the largest automakers before the deduction of interest and taxes rose to the highest value ever measured in a starting quarter in a ten-year comparison.

The quarterly EY calculations are based on the financial ratios of the 16 largest automakers.

Assuming constant exchange rates, the industry giants generated sales of 403 billion euros between January and the end of March - around 35 billion more than in the previous year and only around 5.8 billion less than in the record year 2018.

Car sales even lower than before Corona

The operating profit rose even more significantly: if you leave out Renault and the Stellantis group with brands such as Citroën, Opel and Peugeot because of missing information, you get a value of 29.4 billion euros.

The operating profit for the industry was almost a third higher than in the previous, decisive first quarter of 2017.

EY auto expert Peter Fuß also attributes the records to the fact that many car companies had already launched austerity programs before the pandemic, some of which were tightened again in view of the pandemic: “The results of the first quarter show that some companies are actually adjusting their fixed costs Have made progress. "

But it is also noteworthy that the ramp-up of new drive technologies such as electromobility and a significant increase in sales of electric cars and plug-in hybrids did not have a noticeable negative effect on the margin, says Fuß.

According to the Ifo Institute, however, this structural change is leading to considerable job losses.

As a result of the switch to e-mobility, a third of the jobs should soon be "available for disposal".

Whether the overall good development of the automotive industry will continue, depends crucially on the further development of the still unsolved chip crisis.

This repeatedly causes production stops at numerous car manufacturers.

Fuß says: "The delivery bottlenecks for semiconductors lead to sometimes considerable restrictions in production, several million vehicles are unlikely to be built this year."

In terms of sales figures, the auto industry has not yet reached the pre-crisis level anyway.

According to the study, global car sales increased by 15 percent year-on-year, but at 16.9 million vehicles they were still nine percent lower than in the first quarter of 2019.

The Chinese market continues to gain in importance - also for the three German car companies.

Overall, Volkswagen, BMW and Daimler handed over around four out of ten new cars to a Chinese customer in the first quarter;

apr / dpa

Source: spiegel

All business articles on 2021-06-04

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