European OEMs' business performance report: Sales growth continues

Companies respond to market risks in Russia and South America

2015/03/25

Table of contents

Summary
VW Group's 2014 unit sales exceed 10 million; slight increase forecast in 2015
BMW breaks previous unit sales record in 2014 with 2.12 million units
Daimler aims for record unit sales and revenues in China and U.S. in 2015
PSA's automobile business returns into black in 2014
Renault achieves huge increase in profit, thanks to greater sales and cost reductions
FCA's Chrysler division posts strong results; North American sales expansion target in 2015
Production Forecast by LMC Automotive: German production to increase to 6.0 million units in 2018

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)

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
		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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