PSA posts impressive Q3 results with Opel inclusion for first time

25 October 2017

PSA Group has said its quarterly revenues rose by almost a third as the company added Opel and Vauxhall sales to its figures for the first time, following completion of its acquisition in August.

The car maker posted a €15 billion revenue in Q3 2017, up from €11.4 billion in the same quarter last year. Automotive revenue at the company’s core brands Peugeot, Citroen and DS, rose by 11.6% to €8.42 billion. Opel brought €2.8 billion to the manufacturer in the three months. The company also raised its market forecasts for Latin America and Russia, but saw sales fall in China with a 29% drop in registrations.

The additional profitability of the group from Opel sales comes as the French company looks to cut costs in the former General Motors brand. CEO Carlos Tavares has discussed efficiency of the Opel brands in a number of interviews, while the company is cutting 400 jobs at the Ellesmere Port plant in the UK. Recent reports have suggested a further 6,000 jobs are at risk as the manufacturers start to merge production.

Meanwhile fellow French manufacturer Renault saw a 16% increase in its Q3 revenues, while raising its forecast for growth globally. Revenue rose to €12.2 billion from €10.5 billion a year earlier. This was boosted by growth in the US, Europe and Asia.

Sales were boosted by the Kolos SUV and higher sales of the Zoe electric vehicle (EV). Renault said it sold 7,697 EVs in the quarter with Zoe’s volume growing 67% to 6,665. The Dacia brand reported a 10% rise in sales, driven mainly by the performance of the Sandero subcompact car with a 12% increase in registrations.

In Europe, the company stated that registrations rose 4.9% in a market that grew overall by 1.4%, with 397,097 vehicles registered in the months from July to September. The group took a 9.9% share of the total continent market.

In October, Renault said that its position in the electric cars market and in making a wider range of vehicles for emerging markets should help it deliver a 44% sales increase by 2022. Under the plan, the company is targeting €70 billion in annual sales by 2022, drawing on increased sharing of vehicle technologies with Japanese partner Nissan.

Finally, Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) reported a 50% earnings increase across all markets, with a profit of €910 million in Q3, compared with €606 million in Q3 2016. Revenues slipped by 2% in the three months to €26.4 billion with 1.1 million vehicles registered. The Italian manufacturer is currently investigating spinning out some of its businesses, including its parts division, while plans to turn Alfa Romeo and Maserati into a separate company are on hold.