European OEMs' business performance report: Sales growth continues

Companies respond to market risks in Russia and South America

2015/03/25

Summary

 This report covers Europe's six major OEMs, outlining their 2014 business results and 2015 targets and strategies

 The combined 2014 sales of the six, major European OEMs (VW, BMW, Daimler, PSA, Renault, and FCA) totaled 25.06 million units. This was a 5.1% year-over-year (y/y) increase. All six of the OEMs reported increased sales in 2014, with the three German OEMs setting new worldwide sales records. In addition to a recovery in the European market, strong sales in China where these OEMs have a strong brand presence also contributed to the overall increase in sales. On the other hand, sales in Russia and South America decreased. While BMW was still the leader in the premium market, both Audi and Mercedes Benz are closing the gap.


 The following is a summary of performance by OEM.

VW Group Sales were EUR 202.5 billion, surpassing the EUR 200 billion mark. This was a 2.8% y/y increase. While operating profit for the VW Group as a whole increased 8.8% y/y, to EUR 12.7 billion, it was down 14.4% y/y for the VW brand itself.
BWM EBIT (Earnings Before Interest and Taxes) were EUR 9.1 billion, a significant y/y increase.
Daimler Sales broke previous records, but EBIT decreased 0.6% y/y to EUR 10.8 billion because of extraordinary expenses posted during the previous year.
PSA Posted an operating profit of EUR 910 million, compared to a EUR 360 million loss the year before, thanks to improved product mix and cost reductions.
Renault Operating profit increased significantly y/y, to EUR 1.61 billion, a 29.5% increase due to cost reductions.
FCA EBIT increased 7.4% y/y to EUR 3.22 billion; however, net profit fell 67.6% (to EUR 630 million) due to a one-time expense that was incurred for completing the full acquisition of Chrysler.


 All of the companies are predicting that sales will increase in 2015 in Europe, the USA, and China. They also are predicting that sales will continue to shrink in Russia and Brazil, where there are market risks. All the companies have set objectives to achieve higher y/y unit sales and monetary sales in 2015.

Related Reports:

2014 Vehicle Sales Statistics for 60 Countries (Feb. 2015)
North American International Auto Show 2015: European OEMs (Feb. 2015)

 Six European OEMs' units sales
Three Premium brand's global sales volume

2015 objectives by OEM:

VW Group Forecasting a slight increase in 2015 in terms of unit sales and a maximum 4% increase in terms of monetary sales, in spite of the market risks in South America and Eastern Europe.
BMW Aiming for higher unit sales and EBIT in 2015 because of new model launches
Daimler Aiming for significantly higher unit sales and monetary sales in 2015, especially in the passenger-car and truck markets. The company expects the Chinese and the North American markets will contribute significantly to its business results.
PSA Aiming to achieve an accumulated free cash flow of approximately EUR 2 billion between 2015 and 2017.
Renault Aiming to achieve increased unit sales and monetary sales and improve automotive business operating profit and free cash flow.
FCA Aiming to significantly increase sales in North America in 2015, in the range of 4.8-5.0 million units; achieve sales of EUR 108 billion (12% y/y increase), EBIT between EUR 4.1-4.5 billion (30% y/y increase); and net profit of between EUR 1.0-1.2 billion (y/y double growth), excluding extraordinary expenses.

Business results of the Six European OEMs
(in millions of EUR / in thousands of unit for global sales volume)
2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014
VW Global sales volume 6,257 6,336 7,203 8,265 9,276 9,731 10,137
Sales 113,808 105,187 126,875 159,337 192,676 197,007 202,458
Operating profit 6,333 1,855 7,141 11,271 11,498 11,671 12,697
Net profit 4,688 911 7,226 15,799 21,884 9,145 11,068
BMW Global sales volume 1,436 1,286 1,461 1,669 1,845 1,964 2,118
Sales 53,197 50,681 60,477 68,821 76,848 76,059 80,401
Operating profit 921 289 5,111 8,018 8,275 7,978 9,118
Net profit 330 210 3,224 4,907 5,111 5,329 5,817
Daimler Global sales volume 2,073 1,551 1,895 2,111 2,198 2,354 2,546
Sales 98,469 78,924 97,761 106,540 114,297 117,982 129,872
Operating profit 2,730 (1,513) 7,274 8,755 8,820 10,815 10,752
Net profit 1,414 (2,644) 4,674 6,029 6,830 8,720 7,290
PSA Global sales volume 3,260 3,188 3,602 3,549 2,965 2,818 2,938
Sales 54,356 48,417 56,061 59,912 55,446 53,079 53,607
Operating profit 550 (689) 1,796 1,315 (560) (364) 905
Net profit (363) (1,161) 1,134 588 (5,008) (2,327) (706)
Renault Global sales volume 2,382 2,309 2,627 2,723 2,549 2,628 2,712
Sales 37,791 33,712 38,971 42,628 40,720 40,932 41,055
Operating profit 326 (396) 1,099 1,091 782 1,242 1,609
Net profit 599 (3,068) 3,490 2,139 1,712 695 1,998
FCA Global sales volume 2,153 2,152 2,082 3,979 4,223 4,352 4,608
Sales - - - 59,559 83,957 86,624 96,090
Operating profit - - - 3,467 3,541 3,002 3,223
Net profit - - - 1,651 896 1,951 632
Total Global sales volume 17,561 16,822 18,871 22,296 23,056 23,846 25,060
Sales - - - 496,797 563,944 571,683 603,483
Operating profit - - - 33,917 32,356 34,344 38,304
Net profit - - - 31,113 31,425 23,513 26,099

Sources: The OEMs' press releases and financial statements.
(Note): Numbers in brackets "(  )" represent negative value.

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