The three main automotive german They stopped earning more than 10,000 million euros between January and September 2024 due to the decline in sales in China and a slower-than-expected transformation towards electric mobility, which has plunged the sector into a deep crisis. crisis and threatens to affect thousands of positions of job.
According to data collected by EFE from the results presented by the companies, Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz and bmw they got a benefit joint net of 21,106 million euros between January and September 2024, which represents a decrease of 32.8% or more than 10,000 million compared to the same period of the previous year.
- Only in the third quarter of the year, the main automotive german they stopped earning almost 7,000 million, since their benefit net went from 10,202 million between July and September 2023 to 3,334 million during this year.
All this in a context in which companies have not only reduced their incomebut also the deliveries of vehiclesespecially in China.
During the first nine months of the year, the three automobile giants Germans jointly entered 2.1% less year-on-year, with just over 450,000 million, after in the third quarter The drop in billing will reach 5.8%.
In this period, Volkswagen sold 4.4% less than vehicleswhile Mercedes-Venz transacted 5.6% less and bmw reduced their deliveries by 4.5%.
These companies experienced declines in sales either deliveries of more than 10% in Chinaa key market for automotive European which is in a moment of economic weakness.
Added to this was the fact that the adoption of the cars electrical It has not yet started in the European Union (EU), where in the first nine months of the year 5.8% fewer students enrolled. vehicles battery and market share fell from 14% to 13.1%, according to the European Automobile Manufacturers Association (ACEA).
In total, Germany could lose about 140,000 positions of job by 2035 due to electrification, after 46,000 jobs were cut between 2019 and 2023, according to the Automotive Industry Association (VDA).
Volkswagena sick giant
A perfect storm on Europe’s industrial engine that is especially suffered in the already battered German economy, where automotive They have tightened their belts with the aim of reduce costs.
Brand plans are especially important. Volkswagenwhich is considering closing at least three of the ten factories that he has in Germany and reduce the size of the rest, which would entail the loss of tens of thousands of positions of jobas reported at the end of October by the works council.
He director financial of the company, Arno Antlitz, assured during the press conference on the occasion of the presentation of its financial results that the company is considering “severe” cuts and will make “difficult and painful decisions” in Germany, at a time when its only option is “reduce costs and increase productivity.
The automotive group earned 33.1% less between January and September, although its problems were not limited to its flagship brand, but also affected porsche and Audi.
In the first case, the company obtained a benefit net almost 30% lower than the previous year in the first nine months of the year, while Audi earned 45.8% less due to the closure of production of its factory in Brussels.
Mercedes also tightens its belt
Next to Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz also announced that it will focus on increasing the efficiency and improve the costs in all categories, including personnel, after his benefit will be reduced by 30.7% until September.
His director financialHarald Wilhelm, defended after the presentation of its accounts that the listed company will review the efficiency everywhere it is active and in all categories, including costs by personnel, but also those of material, production or factories.
At the opposite extreme, the CEO of bmwOliver Zipse, defended that the company continued to carry out investments in Germany although some questioned the country’s future as an industrial location.
bmw earned 35% less until September, after signing its worst quarter of the year, with a benefit 85.5% lower, since the collapse of the Chinese market also added the stoppage of the delivery of more than 1.5 million vehicles around the world due to brake problems. EFE
