Volkswagen raised its full-year earnings forecast after recording record earnings in its 2021 semi-annual report on July 29. Volkswagen expects its sales this year to be significantly higher than last year, with adjusted operating margins rising to 6 per cent, 7.5 per cent, compared with a previous forecast of 5.5 per cent, 7 per cent.
Volkswagen is not the only multinational car company to raise its annual performance forecast. Ford, which released its second quarterly report for 2021 the day before, raised its profit forecast by nearly 100 per cent, while Nissan sharply adjusted its annual net income from a loss of 60 billion yen to a profit of 60 billion yen.
"as representatives of Germany, Japan and the United States, the three auto companies revised their performance targets in their financial statements, indicating that although there are still uncertainties such as chip supply shortages, sustained and stable market demand has become the consensus of the global auto industry." Some industry analysts said that in addition to basically facing the good, the adjustment of the product structure of various car companies and a series of comprehensive development plans are also the main reasons for the substantial adjustment of their performance expectations.
As a representative of German car companies, Volkswagen Group's revenue in the first half of the year reached 129.7 billion euros, up 34.9 percent from the same period last year, surpassing 125.2 billion euros in the same period in 2019; operating profit was 11.36 billion euros, a record; operating profit margin was as high as 8.8 percent; after-tax income was 8.454 billion euros, compared with a loss of 1.02 billion euros in the same period last year.
"the strong growth is partly due to strong demand for the high-margin Porsche and Audi brands." According to Volkswagen's semi-annual report for 2021, its Porsche and Audi had operating margins of 17.6% and 10.7%, respectively, in the first half of the year.
Similar to Volkswagen's practice of adjusting the pace of model production to ensure profits, both Ford and Nissan reported in their respective earnings reports that they had further increased revenue and profits by reducing promotional incentives and optimizing their product portfolios.
Nissan's quarterly report for fiscal year 2021 (April 1-June 30, 2021) released on July 28th showed that Nissan achieved a consolidated net income of 2.008 trillion yen, an increase of 834% over the same period last year, and a consolidated operating profit of 75.7 billion yen, an increase of 229.6% over the same period last year. Operating profit margin was 3.8%, compared with-13.1% in the same period last year.
Considering that the shortage of chips may have a significant impact on sales in the second quarter, the company predicts that the problem will continue. But the launch of the new model will drive overall sales growth and contribute to the company's operating profits. " In its quarterly report for fiscal year 2021, Nissan said it expected net income of 9.75 trillion yen and operating profit of 150 billion yen for the full year 2021, while net income was 60 billion yen, an increase of 120 billion yen from previous expectations.
In fact, in addition to the "short-term benefits" brought about by the adjustment of the product structure of traditional models, the strategic planning from the field of electric travel has become the cornerstone of long-term "good" for all car companies.
"while dealing with the shortage of chips, Ford continues to push for the implementation of a future-oriented 'Ford+ development plan', which contributed to the better-than-expected performance of the company's global business in the second quarter of 2021." Ford specifically mentioned the "Ford+ Development Plan" released in May this year in its second quarterly report.
In the financial report, Ford President and CEO Jim Farley explained in detail the implementation effect of the "Ford+ development plan" in the second quarter of this year: Ford pure electric SUV Mustang Mach-E jumped to the second place in sales in the US pure electric SUV segment, Fmai 150 Lightning electric pickup truck received 120000 pre-orders and other electrified and intelligent software and hardware services.
In April, Ford announced that it expected planned production to be reduced by about 50% in the second quarter, which could lead to a loss due to a shortage of chips. However, thanks to the Ford+ development plan, Ford made an adjusted profit before interest and tax of $1.1 billion in the second quarter of this year.
In its second quarterly report, Ford also raised its forecast for adjusted earnings before interest and tax and adjusted free cash flow in 2021, which is expected to be between $9 billion and $10 billion (previously expected to be $5.5 billion to $6.5 billion). Adjusted free cash flow will reach $4 billion to $5 billion.
