Volkswagen earned $ 12 billion in 2020 despite pandemic

The world’s largest automaker said in a statement on Friday that it projected operating profit of € 10 billion ($ 12.2 billion) for 2020, a performance helped by a good end of the year.

After losing 1.4 billion euros ($ 1.7 billion) in the first six months of 2020, Volkswagen (VLKAF) “proved to be quite robust in the second half,” he added. Fourth quarter shipments “continued to recover strongly” and exceeded the previous three months.

Automakers suffered a sales slump and supply chain disruption in the early months of the pandemic. They now face a critical semiconductor shortage that threatens to drag production even as the industry tries to stage a comeback.

Volkswagen had to adjust production at its factories in China, North America and Europe this quarter and could lose 100,000 units, or about 4% of global quarterly production, due to component shortages, analysts said. UBS.

The German automaker, which also owns the Audi and Porsche brands, said last week it had “slightly increased” its share of the global passenger car market in 2020. It delivered 9.3 million vehicles, a decrease of 15 , 2% compared to 2019. Deliveries held up. better in China, its largest market, down 9% compared to 20% in Europe.

Battery electric vehicle shipments reached 231,600, more than three times the volume in 2019. Plug-in hybrid shipments jumped 175% to 190,500 units.

It appears that mainstream automakers “can handle the transition to electric mobility much better than feared,” Bernstein senior analyst Arndt Ellinghorst said in a note to customers on Friday. “Investors should be aware of the excessively low valuation of traditional car manufacturers, especially in the context of valuing any ‘new mobility’,” he added.