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The French automotive group PSA recorded a 12.8% decline in sales in the first half of 2019, due to lower demand from emerging markets for its Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall brands, according to agerpres.ro .
In the first six months of this year, sales fell to 1.9 million vehicles, against 2.18 million units in the same period in 2018, PSA announced Monday. In Europe, PSA's largest market, shipments rose 0.3%, thanks to Opel's success.
"Despite the decline in global automotive markets in the first half of 2019, our trading teams have been able to increase their market share in some countries, particularly in Europe and Africa," said General Manager Carlos Tavares.
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The largest drop in PSA sales, by 60.6%, was recorded in China, where the group has two joint ventures with automakers Dongfeng and Changan. In South America, shipments also decreased by 29.3%, compared to 68.4% in the Middle East and Africa.
Monday morning, shares of PSA rose 1.2% to 22.29 euros on the Paris Bourse.
PSA sales were affected by the group's decision to abandon operations in Iran after President Donald Trump announced the withdrawal of the US from the nuclear deal with the state and the reintroduction of sanctions.
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In 2018, the operating profit of the French automobile group rose by 43% to a record level of 5.69 billion euros, while the turnover increased by 19% to 74.03 billion euros and the profit margin increased to 7.7%.
Financial performance "demonstrates our group's ability to achieve strong and profitable growth," said Carlos Tavares, General Manager. He added that the group wanted to reduce its dependence on Europe and that it will launch by 2021 the Citroën brand in India and that Opel will return to the Russian market. .
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In March 2017, the French manufacturer agreed to acquire Opel for 2.2 billion euros ($ 2.4 billion) from General Motors. According to the strategy presented recently, Opel intends to achieve profitable profitability by 2020 and offer electric versions of all its passenger vehicles by 2024. Until then, the company wants to achieve a profit margin of 2%, which 6%. by 2020.
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