The pair recorded a €502 million ($A792 million) profit in the six months to June 30 on revenue of €9.9 billion ($A15.6 billion). It is the first time since 1999 that the Opel-Vauxhall business has shown a profit.
Opel-Vauxhall lost €179 million ($A282 million) in the second half of 2017 and, in its last full year under GM’s wing, a €257 million ($A405 million) loss in the 2016 calendar year.
Opel Grandland
Their parent company, PSA Group which owns Peugeot and Citroen, also increased revenue with a first-half net income to June 30 of €1.7 billion ($A2.7 billion), up 18 per cent on the first half of 2017, and revenue of €38.6 billion ($A5.7 billion), up 40 per cent.
PSA, whose shares rose 12.6 per cent to their highest level since 2008 on the news, has experienced sales success for its Peugeot 3008 and 5008 SUVs together with years of cost savings under chief executive Carlos Tavares who pulled PSA back from near-bankruptcy in 2014.
PSA has announced it will cut 3700 Opel-Vauxhall manufacturing jobs and cancel, then renegotiate, franchise agreements with its 326 Vauxhall dealers in the UK. The same dealership change is expected on mainland Europe with Opel.
Meanwhile, a host of other major car-makers have filed a mixed bag of results – mostly losing ground.
NISSAN: Nissan Motor Company’s profits fell 14 per cent in the April-June quarter on sharp sales declines in the US and Europe, exchange rate pain and rising costs of raw materials.
Its net profit was $1.4 billion, down $230 million from the $1.63 billion of the corresponding quarter in 2017. Overall vehicle sales fell three per cent to 1.3 million units, down 9.5 per cent in the US to 365,000 units, and 12.7 per cent in Europe to 162,000 units but up 6.9 per cent in China to 336,000 units. Corporate vice-president Joji Tagawa said results are expected to improve in the second half of the year with the launch of new models in the US, but he cautioned that raw material costs may have a bigger impact on profits than initially forecast. The impact of the US steel and aluminium tariffs had limited effect as Nissan buys most of those materials in the US.
GENERAL MOTORS: GM reduced its 2018 earnings outlook despite recording rising US sales. It posted revenue of $49.6 billion for the second quarter of 2018, down 0.6 per cent on the same period in 2017. US sales rose 4.6 per cent year-over-year to 758,000 on strong SUV, crossover and truck sales. GM’s truck plants continued to run at more than 100 per cent with two shifts to meet demand. It will launch new 2019 Chevrolet Silverado and GMC Sierra trucks and the Cadillac XT4 SUV this year. GM’s Chinese interests had record second-quarter equity income of $798 million on record sales. GM Financial had a 12 per cent growth in earning assets.
MITSUBISHI: Its first quarter Japanese financial year 2018 net sales were up 27 per cent (compared with the first quarter last year) to $6.78 billion. Operating profit rose 36.4 per cent from $250 million in the same period of the Japanese FY2017 to $340 million. Global sales were up 21 per cent to 292,000 units. ASEAN sales were up 28 per cent to 69,000 units on stronger truck sales in Thailand and the success of the new Xpander MPV launched in Indonesia. China sales were up 50 per cent to 36,000 units on increased demand for the Chinese-made Outlander. In the US, sales were up 25 per cent to 45,000 units on Outlander PHEV and Eclipse Cross.
TOYOTA: Record profits for the 2017-18 financial year ending March of $7.62 billion, up 21 per cent. But it expects a drop in profit for the current financial year to March 2019 on a strong yen – that affects exports – and a rise in sales incentives to cope with static car sales in the US. It also has increased provisions for electric vehicle and autonomous vehicle development. Toyota forecasts a 15 per cent fall in net profit for the current financial year.
FORD: It has lowered its 2018 calendar year outlook after reporting a 48 per cent fall in second-quarter revenue. It reported revenue of $1.48 billion, down about $404 million, on the tariffs on steel and aluminium imposed by the Trump administration. Ford said the tariffs will swipe $809 million from the profits this calendar year. Trouble also in China where the business went into the red, losing $651 million in the six months to June. It made a $31 million profit in the first six months of 2017. Ford has also been hit by plant stoppages in the US truck division caused by supplier problems.
HYUNDAI: Currency exchange rates hurt Hyundai with its net profit for the second quarter falling 14 per cent to $844 million. Sales were up two per cent but profit fell 29 per cent to $1.15 billion as the US dollar sank against the South Korean won. Car sales rose 4.5 per cent to 2.2 million units.
By Neil Dowling
Opel Insignia GSi
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