In the current Chinese auto market, the decline of joint ventures and the rise of independence can be said to be a major trend.
But for the Chinese market as only a part of multinational car companies, it can not determine the final trend of a large multinational car company.
Because in the past year or two, such as Korean cars, such as some European car companies, although they have encountered a Waterloo in the Chinese market, they are still living well in the global market, whether in terms of sales, revenue or profits.
better than in the Chinese market.
But will this situation continue into 2024? The half-year results have given a preliminary answer, that is, as the Chinese market is a drag on global performance, market and industry pressure has prompted them to continue to try to transform, and the vast majority of multinational car companies have felt the downward trend at the performance level.
the year-on-year decline has become a common performance of multinational car companies.
However, there are also those who withstand the impact of the cold winter in cruel markets, such as Toyota and Honda, where global sales increased slightly in half a year, while the revenue and profits of Toyota and Honda rose against the trend and showed a good growth.
including the strategic adjustments of Ford and General Motors, also led to a good growth in corporate performance, which is commendable in a downward trend.
In a game of chess in the global car market, each car company has its own market, and each car company has its own way of survival, depending on who can walk more steadily and for longer on this long-term track.
BBA is “the first to bear the brunt”.
After the battle in the first half of 2024, the pattern of the global luxury car market remains the same as in 2023.
BMW Group occupies the leading position of the global luxury car market, while Mercedes-Benz Group regrets that it has not been able to catch up with that old rival.
According to data, BMW Group’s global sales reached 1.
2133 million vehicles in the first half of 2024, the same as the same period last year, while Mercedes-Benz Group’s sales were 1.
1686 million, down 6% from the same period last year.
BMW is slightly better than Mercedes-Benz in defending global sales and market share.
Just like the abbreviation for Audi in “BBA”, it has to rank third in front of “BB”.
In the first half of this year, Audi Group’s sales of 843900 vehicles, a year-on-year decline of 8.
2%, Audi’s momentum is still unmatched by Mercedes-Benz and BMW.
The same is true of revenue.
BMW Group took the first place, with 73.
558 billion euros, down only 0.
7% from a year earlier.
Mercedes-Benz revenue reached 72.
616 billion euros, down by-4% year-on-year.
and Audi’s revenue was 30.
939 billion euros, the highest decline of-9.5%. In terms of operating profit, Mercedes-Benz and BMW are almost the same, both 7.
9 billion euros, but Mercedes-Benz-25% decline is higher than BMW-18.
4% decline, while Audi’s decline is also the biggest among the three, reaching-33.59%. However, judging from the performance of the global market, if the sales of a car company group plummets, it may be attributed to the failure of the product or a cyclical downward trend, but the three BBA companies have declined to varying degrees, so they have to consider the common factors.
On the one hand, it comes from macroeconomic challenges, knowing that the luxury car market is the most direct manifestation of economic prosperity.
Since last year, global economic uncertainty has increased, inflation and consumer purchasing power have declined, leading to a decline in demand for luxury cars.
At the same time, the increase in investment in intelligence and electrification, as well as the imbalance between input and output, has also led to a relatively severe decline in operating profits.
According to the data, BMW sold 180000 electric vehicles in the global market in the first half of the year, up 34% from the same period last year, making it the leader in electrification transformation among the three BBA companies.
Audi’s global sales of electric vehicles reached 77000, up 1.
3% from the same period last year.
Mercedes-Benz did have some problems, with global sales of 93400 electric vehicles, down 17% from the same period last year.
On the other hand, it comes from the intensification of market competition, especially the influence from important regional markets such as China.
According to the data, sales of Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi in the Chinese market in the first half of this year were 376400, 341500 and 322000 respectively, down 8.
8 per cent, 4.
2 per cent and 2.
0 per cent respectively.
As one of the world’s largest car markets for these companies, the decline in sales in China has been a drag on overall global sales to some extent.
Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all expressed their views and attitudes towards the downturn in the Chinese market.
Mercedes-Benz said that the Chinese market has shrunk slightly, and the market conditions in China’s high-end and luxury car markets remain weak.
BMW believes that the Chinese market is still highly competitive and that the development of the Chinese market in the first half of this year did not meet the expectations of BMW’s board of directors.
Audi said its business in China contributed 338 million euros to financial performance (compared with 457 million euros in the same period last year), due to a number of factors, including China’s highly competitive market environment.
The brand of new power went up, cutting into the original market range of BBA by the way of intelligence module, smart driving, new energy and new experience, and the luxury car market of 300000-500000 yuan became crowded, making the terminal price of BBA under competitive pressure, which brought strong pressure to the whole system.
Not long ago, BMW announced the launch of a price war, based on the health of the system, which is bound to have the most direct impact on sales and revenue.
No one can withstand the cold winter, and the global auto giant Volkswagen Group is still feeling market pressure in the face of the market downturn in the first half of 2024.
According to sales data, Volkswagen Group completed car sales of 4.
35 million vehicles in the first half of the year, down 2% from the same period last year, mainly due to the decline in the Chinese market.
Volkswagen sold 1.
345 million vehicles in China in the first half, down 7.
4 per cent from a year earlier, and its market share fell to 30.
9 per cent, a far cry from its peak of nearly 40 per cent.
Revenue was 158.
8 billion euros, not a year-on-year decline, but an increase of 1.5%. But operating profit was 10.
1 billion euros, down 11% from a year earlier, directly leading to a drop in profit margins from 7.
1% to 6.
3%, mainly due to falling sales of high-end luxury brands such as Audi Porsche.
The core reason is still in the Chinese market.
The data show that Volkswagen Group’s overall revenue forecast for the Chinese market decreased significantly in the first half of 2024, and the operating profit of the Chinese market fell by 30% in the first half of 2024, mainly due to the upgrading of production lines and products, the continuous introduction of new energy products, as well as the deterioration of the competitive environment, price war and so on.
The Chinese market contributed operating profit of 1.
5 billion euros to 2 billion euros.
Stellantis, another European car giant, had net revenue of 85.
02 billion euros, down 14% from a year earlier, and operating profit of 6.
639 billion euros, down 51% from a year earlier.
Against a backdrop of weak demand and increased competition in the global automotive industry, Stellantis’s adjusted net operating income fell year-on-year, mainly due to lower revenue in North America, which has been an important market for Stellantis.
According to the sales data, the global sales of Stellatnis in the first half of 2024 was 2.
994 million vehicles, and sales in North America fell a lot, from 939000 in the same period to 791000.
The decline in sales in North America has a big impact on revenue and profits.
In response to the decline in performance, Stellatnis said that this includes the industry environment and operational problems within Stellantis, and that the group is taking corrective measures to solve the problems, while also launching an exciting product surprise program, which plans to launch no less than 20 new cars this year.
According to the management style of Stellatnis CEO Tang Weishi, Stellatnis needs to further improve operational efficiency and reduce costs in order to cope with the pressure of declining revenue and profits, and increase investment in electric vehicles to meet future market demand.
Especially in the medieval market, the cooperation with Zero will be very important to the future development of Stellantis.
For Renault, another company that relies on the European market, the situation is slightly better.
Renault sold 1.
1547 million new cars worldwide from January to June, up 1.
9 per cent from a year earlier, according to data.
Renault attributed its sales growth to strong demand in Europe.
In this market, Renault further consolidated its position in third place, with total sales of 847000 vehicles, accounting for more than 3/4 of the global market.
At the same time, the 6.
7 per cent year-on-year growth made it exceed the average growth rate of 5.
5 per cent in the European market.
In terms of financial performance, Renault’s half-year revenue was the same as the same period last year, reaching 26.
958 billion euros, while operating profit fell 9.
8 percent to 1.
889 billion euros, more than Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Volkswagen.
It is worth mentioning that the excellent performance of Renault’s new energy business contributed to its growth in the first half of the year.
Of the nearly 850000 vehicles in the European market, new energy vehicles accounted for 29.
6% of its total sales, up 4.
3% from the same period last year.
Renault said that thanks to the strong performance of its hybrid engines, almost one out of every two passenger cars sold by the Renault brand was electric.
Among American cars, the new energy leader led by Tesla had trouble with development.
Tesla’s global sales fell 6.
5% to 830700 vehicles in the first half of the year, while revenue and profits also declined.
Revenue in the first half of the year was $46.
8 billion, down 3% from the same period last year.
Net profit fell even more, reaching-50.
2% to $2.
607 billion.
Judging from the situation in the first half of the year, it seems that 100 billion US dollars will be a hurdle, even for Tesla, there will be twists and turns.
The development of pure trams in the Chinese market is the strongest, and Tesla is facing the unfavorable development of the Chinese market, which is of course one of the important reasons for Tesla’s poor performance.
The disappointment of the electric car market, including Europe, has also brought adverse factors to Tesla’s development, so layoffs have become one of Tesla’s means to cope with the cold winter.
Tesla’s layoffs have been expanding since the beginning of this year.
According to the latest internal documents, the company currently has about 121000 employees, a reduction of more than 14% from more than 140000 at the end of 2023.
Adversity shows more resilience.
GM and Ford, as established car companies, have already suffered a round of market shocks and the throes of transformation.
In the first half of this year, the revenue of both companies reached the level of $90 billion, while General Motors was even more.
it was $90.
983 billion, a rare year-on-year increase of 7.
83%, while Ford’s growth was 5.
15% to $90.
588 billion.
In terms of profit, general motors also rose nearly 20% to $5.
913 billion, while Ford’s profit was only $3.
116 billion, down 1.
74% from a year earlier, a good performance in the broader market.
Of course, this is due to Ford’s overall strategy, which is to focus on the American market, pay attention to the returns of investors and shareholders, and delay investment in electric vehicles.
In the US market, Ford is currently the largest diesel locomotive brand, the second largest electric vehicle (EV) brand and the third largest hybrid model brand.
At the same time, Ford has not mentioned the concept of regional market, the results only focus on the entire business unit, mainly around North America, Europe and China have a little sales, Ford is already a “North American automobile company”.
The same is true of GM.
From the overall financial data, we can see that GM has a very high demand for financial data.
However, from the perspective of profit decomposition, GM is basically making money from the North American market, and the weight of the North American market has reached the highest.
GM also ranks first in the full-size pickup market, recording its best quarterly sales since 2021.
In fact, GM also failed to meet its electric vehicle target.
GM CEO Mary Barra gave up her expectations for the company’s electric vehicle project, saying she could not meet the original production target of 1 million electric vehicles by the end of next year.
Market demand will determine the speed at which the company can achieve this goal, and the delivery rate of electric vehicles is slowing.
Let’s take a look at the global giant Toyota, whose revenue and profits should be quite good among the global auto groups.
As Japanese companies calculate the fiscal year, it is calculated that although Toyota’s global sales have declined by 4.
7%, its total sales of 5.
16 million vehicles is still the largest automobile group in the world.
Revenue also showed a rare year-on-year increase of 13.
2 per cent to 22.
91 trillion yen, while operating profit rose 39 per cent to 2.
42 trillion yen, which is not easy for the car market in the cold winter.
In the case of weak demand, Toyota faces a decline in production and sales, but it has achieved an increase in operating profit because of changes in foreign exchange rates and cost control.
In particular, cost control is even more important for car companies in adversity.
Data show that Toyota achieved an increase of 5.
5 billion yen in revenue from April to June through strict cost control.
this includes the cost-cutting effect of 9.
5 billion yen and the strengthening of supplier infrastructure and materials prices of 4 billion yen.
Although as a traditional automobileCar companies, but Toyota still has a long way to go.
In particular, the proportion of sales of electric vehicles (including HEV) has increased from 34.
2% to 43.
2%, including the year-on-year growth of pure electric vehicles to 49.5%. Toyota’s strategic adjustment in the electric vehicle market has achieved remarkable results.
Honda, another Japanese carmaker, has also done quite well in the global market this year, with global car sales up 2 per cent to 1.
9 million, mainly due to a 9 per cent increase in Honda’s sales in the US, its biggest market.
According to the data, Honda’s revenue and profit in the first half of the year were 10.
83 trillion yen and 790.
29 billion yen respectively, 20.
25% and 58% respectively compared with the same period last year.
Revenue, operating profit and net profit all increased compared with the same period last year, with the highest year-on-year growth rates among Toyota Honda and Nissan.
Honda attributed the profit growth to “steady demand for hybrid cars in Japan and the US, strong motorcycle sales in India and Brazil and favorable foreign exchange rates”.
In addition, Honda estimates that the positive impact of the depreciation of the yen contributed about 48 billion yen to its operating profit for the quarter.
Nissan’s half-year results can be said to be a mixture of ice and fire.
Although operating income increased by 8.
28% to 6.
5127 trillion yen, operating profit was only 91.
3 billion yen, a year-on-year decline of-57.73%. This is mainly due to the drag of the financial data in the current quarter.
Nissan officials say profits have been affected by increased sales incentives and marketing fees in response to fierce sales competition and inventory optimization, especially in the United States.
the aging product mix and the shift to hybrid cars have had an impact on Nissan’s sales.
As a result, Nissan cut its operating profit and sales forecast for fiscal year 2024 (April 1, 2024 to March 31, 2025), from 600 billion yen to 500 billion yen.
Global car sales are expected to be 3.
65 million vehicles for the full year (compared with 3.
7 million previously expected).
Although the global performance of the three Japanese companies is good, they are collectively not as expected in the Chinese market, with Toyota, Honda and Nissan sales totaling 1.
54 million vehicles in the first half of this year, down 13% from a year earlier.
Of these, Toyota (Toyota and Lexus brands) sold 785000 vehicles, down 10.
8% from the same period last year.
Honda sold 416000 vehicles, down 21.
48% from the same period last year.
Nissan China, including passenger cars and light commercial vehicles, sold 339000 vehicles, down 5.
4% from the same period last year.
Japanese brands’ retail market share in China has fallen to 12.
9% from a high of 24.
1% in 2020, according to data from the Carriage Association.
Since 2023, the increasingly fierce price war has further weakened the competitive advantage accumulated by Japanese brands in the fuel car market, especially the rise of BYD and other mixing technologies, and the price bottom line has been continuously breached.
Reduce the price of medium-sized cars to the range of compact cars of joint venture brands in the past.
Of course, in order to cope with China’s challenging environment, the three Japanese families have also made a lot of moves.
Toyota is the first to cooperate with Chinese car companies and has achieved the landing of products at the level of supply chain and industrialization.
Honda plans to close one factory and stop production at another.
Honda is also preparing to start production at two new electric car plants in China through joint ventures with local carmakers later this year.
In addition, Honda and Nissan have agreed to work together to develop next-generation software platforms and technologies related to battery, electric axle and vehicle complementarity.
The partnership aims to accelerate the development of the two companies in the fast-growing electric vehicle market.
According to the plan, Dongfeng Nissan will launch seven new energy products and expand its export business by the end of 2026, with an export target of 100000 vehicles in the first step.
Honda plans to launch 10 ERAR N brand pure electric vehicles in China by 2027, increasing sales of new energy vehicles in China to 800000 by 2030.
and Toyota expects to sell 250000 pure electric models in 2024 and 600000 by 2025.
It can be seen that the three Japanese companies are currently using the income and profits of the global market to fill the investment and deficit in the Chinese market.
After all, as the world’s largest automobile market, China’s market position is indispensable.
This is quite different from the American general Ford.
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