French car giants revenue hit by coronavirus disruption, but still records profit in first six months of the year.
PSA Group boss Carlos Tavares says that the car giant is on track to rebound strongly from the coronavirus pandemic in the second half of 2020, after posting a profit in the first six months of the year.
The French group, whose brands include Citroën, DS, Peugeot and Vauxhall/Opel, was hit by Covid-19 disruption and lockdowns, with global sales of 1,033,000 from January to June down 45.7 per cent from the 1,903,000 vehicles sold in the same period last year.
Despite that, the PSA Group still posted a profit of €595 million (AUD$975 million) for the first half of 2020, although sharply down on the €1.83 billion (AUD$3 billion) profit for the same period of 2019.
Tavares said: “This result proves the Group’s resilience, as a reward of six consecutive years of intense work to increase our agility and lower our breakeven point. The Group is also weathering this crisis thanks to the commitment of the teams, focused to deliver a clean, safe and affordable mobility for our customers.”
The PSA profit result is stronger than that of some rival firms, which financial analysts partly attributed to Tavares-led efforts to reduce production costs. Tavares also said that, following the lifting of lockdown restrictions in Europen sales in June and so far in July showed the firm was on track for a strong rebound, with orders books in an “excellent” position.
Tavares also reiterated that the PSA Group’s merger with Fiat Chrysler Automobiles – creating the recently named Stellantis – was on course to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2021.
James Attwood