According to the Drive newspaper on October 3, for the second time this year, Volkswagen Group - the parent company of Volkswagen, Audi, Skoda, Cupra and Porsche among other brands, has cut its profit forecast, after there were speculations that the giant auto group could be forced to close six factories in Germany due to high costs.
Car factories in Europe are running at lower capacity, falling to 54% in 2023 from 65% (for high-cost countries like Germany), while factories in Central and Eastern Europe are down from 83% to 79%, according to a Reuters survey.
Output at the world's largest automaker, Toyota, fell 11% in August 2024, marking the seventh consecutive month of decline from the Japanese automaker.
 |
| The world auto industry sounds the alarm. Photo: Reuters |
Toyota has also been forced to halt production several times this year, following certification issues with the Japanese government, as well as a major typhoon in August – which also affected Honda, Mazda and Nissan.
A month earlier, Nissan revealed its operating profit had plunged 99% — leaving the company with just 995 million yen ($6.8 million) in cash reserves, Yahoo Finance reported.
At the same time, Stellantis, which owns 15 car brands including Alfa Romeo, Citroen, Fiat, Jeep, Maserati, Peugeot and Ram, announced that its net profit in the first half of the year had nearly halved to €5.6bn after sales fell 14%, according to The Guardian.
In September 2024, economist and former Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi published a report saying the European Union is facing slow economic growth amid increased competition from the US and China.
The report also said that “Chinese state-sponsored competition poses a threat to the EU's automotive industry”, which employs 14 million Europeans.
Demand for electric vehicles is falling in many major markets, including the European Union, where officials called for “urgent support measures” after electric car sales fell 45% in August.
In China, sales of electric and plug-in hybrid vehicles still rose slightly, even though the overall passenger vehicle market fell 1.1% year-on-year in August, after falling 3.1% in July, Reuters reported.
By September, new car sales in China had fallen 5.5% — marking the sixth straight month of decline — with production also down 3.2%, according to the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers.
Many carmakers have been preparing for an economic “storm”. Specifically, Cupra CEO Wayne Griffiths shared: “The economic situation will become more difficult next year (2024), with inflation and interest rates at current levels and the risk of recession in major European markets”.
At the same time, Ford secured a $9.2 billion loan from the US government, just months after CFO John Lawler warned of the possibility of a "mild recession in the US and a moderate recession in Europe".
Although the loan is for building new electric vehicle and battery factories — not a public bailout — many financial commentators have speculated that Ford may be using the government loans to preserve its own capital to weather the coming economic downturn.
Source: https://congthuong.vn/hoi-chuong-canh-bao-ve-bao-kinh-te-nganh-cong-nghiep-o-to-349937.html
Comment (0)