The Swiss auto industry is still feeling the pressure of the consequences of the pandemic. But on the manufacturer side, things are looking up again after Corona caused massive sales losses and difficulties in production and supply chains, especially last year. The effects of the corona can still be felt in industry. In addition, the industry suffers from the lack of semiconductor components, so that some brands currently have to temporarily stop production.
BMW
In April, the Munich-based car manufacturer exceeded sales of the pre-crisis year 2019 by around ten percent. In the first quarter, there was an increase of five percent – thanks to the car markets in Asia that are already running smoothly again.
General Motors
The ex-parent company of Opel is benefiting from the pick-up and SUV boom in the home market of the USA. In the first three months of 2021, GM made around CHF 29.5 billion in sales and CHF 2.73 billion in profit – more than ten times the figure for the same period in the previous year.
Porsche
The sports car brand from Stuttgart increased its revenues in the first quarter of 2021 by more than 50 percent to around 1.37 billion Swiss francs and increased sales of almost 72,000 vehicles by 36 percent compared to the same period of the previous year. Porsche CEO Oliver Blume is now anticipating annual sales of over 300,000 vehicles for the first time.
Stellantis
The new parent company of the former carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (including Alfa Romeo, Chrysler, Fiat, Jeep and Maserati) and PSA (Citroën, DS, Opel, Peugeot) suffers from a semiconductor shortage and recorded a loss of production of around 190 ‘in the first three months of 2021 000 cars. Nevertheless, the group managed to increase sales by 14 percent to CHF 40.5 billion and sold 1.62 million vehicles across all brands – twelve percent more than in the same period of the previous year.
Volkswagen
The Volkswagen Group has already reached the level of before the pandemic in terms of profit and sales. Between January and March 2021, sales of around CHF 68.4 billion and a profit of CHF 3.72 billion resulted. Worldwide sales of all group brands rose by around 20 percent to 2.4 billion cars in the first quarter of 2021. The VW management attributes the upturn to the booming market in China and an increase in higher-priced models.