German automakers weathered 2020 lockdowns better than competitors
The German publication, Kryptoszene.de has published an analysis of car manufacturers in Germany, indicating that Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes Benz, although not unscathed, have come through 2020 in far better shape than most other European manufacturers.
On average, these three manufacturers have lost about 10% of their sales during 2020 while French manufacturers lost 20%.
The slump in sales reflected strongly in revenues with operating profits down around 26%. But compared to the global industry, this is still significantly better than the worldwide figure of 37%.
Their report also shows that China remains an important market for German automakers, absorbing nearly 40% of all German production.
In Germany, 19.1% fewer new passenger cars were registered in 2020 compared to 2019 with only 46.7% of these being petrol cars indicating the rise of electric mobility. Volkswagen, for instance, produced 100,000 electric vehicles, far behind Tesla’s 400,000 but by 2025, this gap is forecast to be closed with both VW and Tesla targetting production output of 1.5 million units.
