European auto sector is recovering .. September sales are the first...

Yesterday’s data showed that new car registrations in Europe increased slightly in September, the first increase this year, indicating a recovery in the auto sector in some European markets where Coronavirus infections are declining. According to “Reuters”, statistics from the European Automobile Industry Association said that new car registrations rose in September by 1.1 percent on an annual basis to 1.3 million cars in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association countries.
But the five largest European markets achieved mixed results, as Spain, the United Kingdom and France recorded losses, while registrations in Italy and Germany rose, according to what the data revealed.
Sales of Volkswagen Group and Renault rose 14.1 percent and 8.1 percent in September, respectively, while PSA Group announced a decline of 14.1 percent.
Luxury carmakers incurred losses in September, as BMW sales fell 11.9 per cent, and rival Daimler announced a 7.7 per cent decline. In the first nine months of the year, sales fell 29.3 percent, as lockdown measures linked to the Coronavirus forced car dealerships to close their doors across Europe.
In a related context to the sector, Volvo Trucks announced that it recorded operating profits during the third quarter of this year that exceeded experts’ expectations, in light of taking measures to reduce costs and benefit from the recovery of road transport in the United States and Europe in the post-closure phase to control the Corona pandemic.
The company, which is based in Gothenburg, Sweden, stated that the adjusted operating profit during the third quarter amounted to 7.22 billion kroner (813 million dollars), while experts had expected that the volume of profits would reach 5.91 billion kroner.
But the company’s net profit fell during the third quarter by 16 percent to 76.9 billion kroner, according to the “German”. “At the end of the quarter, transportation activities almost returned to the same level a year ago in most markets, which led to an improvement in the confidence of our customers,” the company’s chief executive, Martin Lundstedt, was quoted by Bloomberg News Agency as saying in a statement. Lundstedt emphasized that there is a “significant” ambiguity regarding the future of the pandemic, in terms of the possibility of imposing “new restrictions on societies and companies.”
The percentage of orders in the North American markets increased by 151% annually, while the percentage of increase in the volume of orders in the European markets reached 34%.
In addition to trucks, the Volvo Group also sells buses and construction equipment, as well as the Volvo Penta division that specializes in engines. The group does not include the Volvo passenger car brand, as it is owned by China’s Geely Shijiang Geely Holding company. By the end of last September, the number of employees in the company had reached about 96,200, including temporary workers and consultants, a decrease of 8 per cent compared to last year.
Volvo stated that today’s report was due for release on October 20, but was completed ahead of schedule.
The German company Daimler AG announced yesterday that it recorded initial operating profits that exceeded analysts’ estimates in light of the recovery in sales and cutting costs.