Corona crisis weighs on the auto industry overall
Volkswagen significantly increased its sales on the US market in the fourth quarter of 2020, but the 2020 corona crisis resulted in a significant decline. In the three months to the end of December, according to information on Tuesday, the company brought 94,330 cars with the VW logo to American customers – that was almost eleven percent more than in the same period last year.
The SUV segment with the strong selling Atlas model boosted sales strongly, while the demand for smaller vehicles weakened. Overall, business suffered considerably from the pandemic in the past calendar year – with 325,784 cars sold, US sales fell by ten percent compared to the previous year.
The year was also difficult for the group subsidiaries Audi and Porsche. At Audi, there was still a minus of almost five percent in the fourth quarter, but for the full year sales in the USA fell by 17 percent to 186,620 cars. The sports car manufacturer Porsche was only 6.9 percent below the previous year's figure with 57,294 cars, also because it was able to achieve a similar increase in sales in the fourth quarter.
Big losses with Mini
The VW Group and the Wolfsburg core brand did much better in the USA than some other manufacturers. At BMW, for example, sales there fell by 17.5 percent to 278,732 vehicles for the full year. In the final quarter there was a two percent decrease to 98,750 cars. The secondary brand Mini suffered even greater losses, with a year-on-year decline of 22 percent. Daimler has yet to present the sales figures with its Mercedes-Benz car brand.
In addition to VW, the winners of the past quarter also included the largest US automaker General Motors (GM). A total of 771,323 vehicles were sold, around five percent more than in the same period last year, the company announced in Detroit on Tuesday. The share reacted to the surprisingly strong quarterly result with significant price gains.
Nevertheless, the corona crisis weighed heavily on business last year. Overall, General Motors' sales in 2020 fell by almost twelve percent to a good 2.5 million cars. In view of increasing corona vaccinations and warmer weather, GM chief economist Elaine Buckberg gave an optimistic outlook. The US economy should reach its turning point in the spring.
The Italian-American heavyweight Fiat Chrysler had a hard time at the end of the year, with sales falling eight percent to 499,431 in the last quarter. In total, the group got rid of around 1.8 million new vehicles in 2020, which corresponds to a decrease of 17 percent compared to the previous year. The second largest US manufacturer, Ford, does not want to present its sales figures until Wednesday.
