The COVID-19 pandemic has had a severe impact on the global automotive industry, causing supply chain disruptions and factory closures. All of this placed intense pressure on the market already coping with a downshift in global demand.
According to recent data, the market capitalization of the world’s five leading automobile manufacturers plunged by $63bn amid coronavirus crisis, falling from $426.5bn in December 2019 to $363.5bn last week.
Volkswagen Group and Toyota Lost $33.1bn in Market Capitalization
The world’s largest automobile manufacturer, the Volkswagen Group, managed to reduce the effects of Covid-19 in the first half of the year. Nevertheless, the Group`s financial report revealed that sales revenue decreases by 23.2% since January, reaching €96.1bn at the end of the second quarter of the year. Until the end of June, the Volkswagen Group reported a significant year-on-year decline of 27.4% in its deliveries to 3.9 million vehicles.
Frank Witter, a member of the Group Board of Management responsible for Finance and IT, said: “The first half of 2020 was one of the most challenging in the history of our company due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Thanks to the great team effort, we have gradually been able to ramp up operations within the Group and up until now, have steadily managed to navigate through this unprecedented crisis.”
At the end of December, the market capitalization of the world’s leading automobile manufacturer stood at $87.6bn, revealed the Yahoo Finance data. Since then, this figure dropped by $17.7bn, reaching $69.9bn last week.
Toyota Motor Corp, as the second-largest automobile manufacturer in the world, lost $15.4bn in market capitalization amid COVID-19 outbreak, falling from $196.9bn in December 2019 to $181.5bn last week. The company’s financial results revealed the smallest quarterly profit in nine years as the coronavirus pandemic halved its car sales. Toyota’s operating profit plunged 98% to $131.73 million for the three months ended June.
Market Cap of the Largest US Automobile Companies Plunged by $20.8bn
The world’s third-largest automobile manufacturer, Daimler, has also witnessed a staggering drop in market capitalization amid the COVID-19 crisis. Statistics show the company`s market cap plunged by $9.1bn in the last eight months, falling from $52.8bn in December 2019 to $43.7bn last week. Daimler also reported a substantial Q2 2020 loss due to the sharp fall in sales caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
In the second quarter of the year, Daimler’s total unit sales plunged by 34% to 541,800 passenger cars and commercial vehicles. The company’s revenue also dropped by 29%, reaching €30.2bn in Q2 2020.
The combined market capitalization of Ford and General Motors, as the two leading US automobile manufacturers on this list, plunged by $20.8bn since the COVID-19 outbreak. Statistics show Ford market cap fell from $37.9bn in December 2019 to $27.5bn last week, a $10.4bn drop in eight months.
Ford was already struggling before the pandemic hit and was in the midst of an $11 billion restructuring plan to control costs and roll out new vehicles. The virus forced the company to close US factories for more than seven weeks during the second quarter. Nevertheless, the company reported a $1.12bn net profit in Q2, despite the virus.
As the fifth-largest automobile company, General Motors lost $10.4bn in market capitalization in the last eight months. Statistics show the company’s market cap fell from $51.2bn in December 2019 to $40.8bn last week.