These Are The Largest Car Manufacturers In The World

The sales crisis is leaving its mark on the balance sheets of the world’s largest car companies. But some manufacturers are able to escape the downward trend.

The automotive industry is going through difficult times: For the first time after years of upswings, the industry, which is used to success, has to cope with a slump. This was already apparent last year. The Chinese, in particular, are holding back on car purchases. Since the People’s Republic has become the most important car market in recent years, all manufacturers are feeling the effects of the sales downturn.

According to an analysis by the US business magazine Fortune, these are the ten car companies with the highest turnover in the world:

#10 Dongfeng Engine

The Chinese car manufacturer Dongfeng Motor is not very well known in this country. However, the company from Wuhan is one of the largest manufacturers in China. In 2018, the manufacturer’s turnover is just under 91 billion dollars. Dongfeng not only produces vehicles for its own brands such as Venucia but also has joint ventures with Nissan and the French PSA Group, for example. With the latter connection, things are currently looking bad: Sales figures are declining and Dongfeng is considering selling its shares in PSA.

#9 Nissan

The Japanese Renault partner Nissan had to accept a drop in sales last year: Revenues shrank by 3.2 percent to 104.4 billion dollars and profits plummeted by 57 percent to around 2.9 billion dollars. The reasons for this are the generally weak automobile economy and the scandal surrounding the former CEO Carlos Ghosn, who is awaiting trial in Japan. He is said to have violated stock exchange regulations.

# 8 BMW

The German premium manufacturer BMW is also feeling the doldrums. Sales increased by 3.4 percent to $ 115 billion. At the same time, profits fell 13.6 percent to $8.4 billion. Bayern recently made headlines with a change of boss: Oliver Zipse is the name of the new man who is to lead BMW into the future. One of his construction sites is the electric car strategy, where the carmaker has some catching up to do.

#7 SAIC Engine

The second Chinese representative among the top ten is called SAIC Motor. Among other things, the company has a joint venture with Volkswagen, which manufactures the VW Santana for the Chinese market, for example. The group’s best-known brand is MG, the former British car company. There is little sign of a car crisis at SAIC: Sales rose by 5.9 percent to 136.4 billion dollars and profits by 6.9 percent to 5.4 billion dollars.

#6 Honda

On the German market, Honda is a rather smaller supplier. Worldwide, the situation is different: The Honda Civic is one of the best-selling cars. Revenues increased by 3.4 percent to 143.3 billion dollars in 2018, while profits slumped by 42.4 percent to 5.5 billion dollars.

#5 General Motors

For decades, the American car company General Motors was considered the world’s largest car manufacturer – in terms of sales figures. But that is history: GM has become smaller; the company has almost completely withdrawn from Europe after the sale of Opel/Vauxhall to PSA. Sales shrank by 6.5 percent to 147 billion dollars in 2018. The profit was around 8 billion dollars.

#4 Ford

The second US representative in the top 10 is badly hit by the car crisis: Ford’s profits fell by 51.6 percent to 3.7 billion dollars, while turnover increased by 2.3 percent to 160.3 billion dollars. The carmaker’s main problem is the Chinese market, where sales figures are declining and factories are underutilized. In Europe, the Americans are making cuts: In Germany alone, Ford plans to cut 5400 jobs.

#3 Daimler

With revenues of 197.5 billion dollars, Daimler is the world’s third-largest automaker. But that is no reason for satisfaction because the Stuttgart-based group is also struggling with the crisis in the industry. Last year, profits slumped by 27.9 percent to 8.6 billion dollars. The group is struggling with the consequences of the diesel crisis, which already burdened the result in 2018

#2 Toyota

The Japanese car company, which is accustomed to success, had to put up with a damper last year. Net profits slumped by almost 25 percent to just under 17 billion dollars. The reason for the decline, however, was not the poor state of the auto industry, but losses in equity holdings. Toyota nevertheless remains the most profitable carmaker. Sales rose by 2.8 percent to 272.6 billion dollars.

#1 Volkswagen

In terms of turnover, the Volkswagen Group is the largest car manufacturer in the world. Last year, the Wolfsburg-based company generated sales of 278.3 billion dollars – a growth rate of seven percent compared to 2017. In terms of profit, however, the German Dax company is only number two. Unlike its rival Toyota and many other car manufacturers, VW was able to increase its profits by 9.3 percent to 14.3 billion dollars.