The world’s largest car companies made record profits in the third quarter despite the weak economic situation and an increasing price war. “The sales of the top 16 car manufacturers climbed by 11 percent to a good 504 billion euros, reaching a new high,” said the consulting firm EY on Thursday. “The total profit even rose by 35 percent to almost 39 billion euros – also a new record.”
One reason for this, however, is the weakness of the Japanese currency, the yen: Japanese manufacturers therefore recorded a massive profit increase of 103 percent. In Germany The increase is still at 7 percent USA Manufacturers’ profits fell by 18 percent.
According to EY, two German companies are among the three most profitable companies: Mercedes-Benz reported the highest profit margin of 13.0 percent, followed by Toyota (12.6 percent) and BMW (11.3 percent).Stellantis and Renault have not published any earnings figures for the third quarter.
Biggest loser: Tesla
Compared to the same period last year, the average margin even climbed from 7.2 to 8.6 percent. The majority of companies were able to increase their profitability – but the largest decline was recorded Tesla: The e-car group achieved a margin of 7.6 percent – after 17.2 percent in the previous year.
EY expert Constantin Gall described the good results as “records from the past”. The coming year is likely to be much more difficult. “Demand for new cars is weakening, the ramp-up of electromobility is stalling and price pressure is increasing,” he explained. Gall is already seeing more and more discount campaigns. “In the fight for better utilization and market share, more and more companies are resorting to the well-known means – but these often come at the expense of the margin,” added Gall.
The market in China remains particularly difficult. “Domestic manufacturers are gaining market share, and there is also a price war that can lead to a brutal selection process,” says Gall. However, China remains a key market for German car manufacturers: in the third quarter, China’s share of the three German car companies’ global new car sales was at least 36 percent.