The Coronavirus pandemic has hit companies and manufacturers where it hurts the most – in profits and sales. The graph is going down as more and more people have started to work from home, realizing that social distancing is going to be the norm till the time a definitive vaccine or cure comes out. The mortality rate of Coronavirus may not be huge, but it's making people scared and turning them more toward a life of less – directly affecting the sales of just about everything in the world but the essentials.
Car manufacturers have been hit badly as well, with many reporting losses, a drop in sales and profits, and a general disinterest from the public in buying new cars. Money is at a premium in a bad economy, so no one is shelling out. Meanwhile, the lockdown shut down factories all over the world for days on end, doubling the woes of the automobile industry. 2020 has not been a good year for just about anyone. These car companies are now in big trouble, and they include the Detroit three, according to figures sourced from Automobile Mag.
15 Nissan Group: 29.6% Drop In Sales
Nissan was already struggling in the US for most of 2019, as reported in January 2020. But with the pandemic further tightening the economy, and car sales dropping with an almost 30% drop, with every marque reporting a major loss in sales. The Nissan Altima remains the bestseller with the trucks seeing a major sale drop.
14 American Honda: 19.2% Drop In Sales
With an almost 20% drop in sales, American Honda still seems to be doing better than its Japanese contemporary, Nissan. The CR-V remains its top-selling car but it too saw a drop in sales, though the biggest loss bearer is the Honda Pilot. The Acura RDX fared no better either because people would rather hold onto monies than buy new cars.
13 JLR: Unreported Numbers & Percentage
Ever since Ford sold off the Jaguar-Land Rover to Tata & Sons, its reliability has taken a major hit. Jaguars have been selling badly across the globe for a while now, with Land Rovers faring a little better. That said, now is not the time for luxury car sales which is why JLR has decided to share sales and profit and loss reports a bit later.
12 Geely Motors: A 9% Revenue Drop
Anything from China is in trouble for now, especially when it comes to the world market. That said, within China as well, Geely Motors did face an almost 10% revenue drop, which still puts it ahead of many of the other loss-making car manufacturers present in this list. However, Geely believes that the worse is yet to come.
11 BMW Group: Sold Just 64,692 Vehicles
In comparison to the others, BMW is still faring okay, and reports decent sales for its BMWs, with its SUVs doing pretty well for themselves. BMW sedan sale has dropped by more than 20%, but it is the Mini Cooper, with just a little over 5,000 sold in the first quarter of 2020, that is reporting a 35% drop in sales.
10 Hyundai: 11% Drop In Sales
For the first quarter, Hyundai reported an 11% drop in sales, but in March alone, the sale drop was a massive 39%, if compared to March 2019. The second quarter of 2020 is likely to be far more dismal as economies spiral down and pink slips are handed out to just about any and every industry, though it is the tourism, travel, and entertainment industry that is facing the worst challenge ever.
9 Ford Motors: A Massive $2 Billion Loss?
In the first quarter, Ford reported a $2 billion loss, and its second-quarter loss estimate stands at a massive $5 billion. Yet Ford says it has enough funds to tide over the whole of 2020, and with factories now being opened across the globe, Ford may be able to get out of this without a scratch. The Ford Mustang and Ranger sales picked up in the first quarter as well.
8 General Motors: Sales Dropped, But Made A Slight Profit
General Motors sales dropped by just 7.1%, but we are talking a whole gamut of marques and cars here. The Chevrolet Camaro and the South-Korean made Buick Encore suffered heavy sale drops but the Chevrolet Silverado and the Bolt were winners and picked up the lag. But GM is also not very hopeful about 2020’s second quarter with dealerships facing financial troubles.
7 Toyota Motor Sales: 8.8% Drop In Sales
If the sales of the celebrity-favorite Toyota Prius take a hit, you know the company is in trouble. Technically, the RAV4 sales were up for the quarter, but they slipped by 25% in March alone. Meaning April, May, and June may see Toyota take a beating in domestic, US, and global sales. The times, they are tough.
6 Fiat Chrysler: Reported A $1.9 Billion Loss
Chrysler found itself in deep doo-doo in the ‘70s and later the early 2000s as well, forcing it to become Fiat Chrysler. 2020 seems to be a dark year for FCA, with almost every marque dropping in sales in the first quarter, be it Dodge, Jeep, Fiat, or Alfa Romeo. It may be time for q government bailout again.
5 Mitsubishi: Sold Just 35,563 Vehicles
Mitsubishi does not have a huge range of vehicles on offer, and the ones that are there are struggling to make decent sales. For the first quarter of 2020, Mitsubishi sold just a little over 35,000 vehicles, which does not look very good for the company. March saw an extreme 52% sale drop, and April and May may just turn out to be worse.
4 Subaru: 16.7% Drop In Sales
Not a single Subaru car managed to increase sales in the 2020’s first quarter, which makes for scary financial predictions for the next quarter. The BRZ's sales suffered the most, especially in March, with a 52.1% drop in sales. These numbers may spell doom for Subaru, at least in the US.
3 Volkswagen: 5500 Vehicles Sold In March
Volkswagen has had a bad couple of years with "Dieselgate" and all those fines imposed on it for cheating through emission norms. 2020 has not helped it much. With only 5,500 vehicles sold in March and a total of 13% drop in sales in the first quarter, VW seems to be struggling as well.
2 Audi: Sales Have Dropped By 14%
The A5 is holding on to sales the best, reporting only a 3% drop in sales in 2020’s first quarter. Q5 sales dropped by 35%, Q8 by 23% and A4 sales have also dropped by 32%. Audi is part of the VW group, so it may outlast many other brands, backed by the biggest automaker there is the world, for now.
1 Porsche: Sold Just 11,994 Vehicles
Agreed, Porsche does not have sell vehicles in mass, like Ford or GM to churn out profits, but even so, the drop in sales must have hurt. The 911 is still holding on with just a 10% loss in profit, but the 718 dropped to nearly 40% in sales. Losses have been reported with the Panamera, Macan, and Cayenne as well.