Largest car manufacturers post record corporate profits
The world's largest car manufacturers made record profits in the third quarter despite the weak economic situation and an increasing price war. "The turnover of the top 16 car manufacturers climbed by eleven percent to a good 504 billion euros and thus reached a new high," explained the consulting firm EY on Thursday. Total profit even rose by 35 percent to just under 39 billion euros - also a new record."
One reason for this, however, is the weakness of the Japanese currency, the yen: Japan's manufacturers therefore posted a massive 103 percent increase in profits. In Germany, the increase was still seven percent, while in the USA, manufacturers' profits fell by 18 percent.
According to EY, two German groups are among the three most profitable companies: Mercedes-Benz reported the highest profit margin at 13.0 percent, followed by Toyota (12.6 percent) and BMW (11.3 percent).
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 faltering and price pressure is increasing," he explained.
We are already seeing more and more discount campaigns. "In the battle for better capacity utilization and market share, more and more companies are resorting to the old familiar means - but often at the expense of margins," Gall added.
Source: www.ntv.de
