European Car Sales Fall the Most in Decades, Signaling Slump
FRANKFURT — European car sales went over a cliff in March, falling to their lowest level in at least 30 years, according to data published Friday that provided one of the first concrete indications of the economic damage caused by coronavirus lockdowns.
Most of the previous available economic data dated from before the lockdowns began and is all but useless. Also, the car industry is a bellwether for overall economic growth in the European Union because it is a pillar of manufacturing and employs so many people — 2.6 million, or 9 percent of all factory workers in the bloc. Based on the March sales numbers, the outlook is not good.
New car registrations fell by more than half from a year earlier, to 570,000 from 1.3 million, the European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. It was by far the worst March for auto sales since at least 1990. Comparisons before then are of limited value because Europe was still divided by the Iron Curtain.
The new registration figures may be even worse than they sound. It was only around the middle of the month that most car dealers in Europe closed their doors, factories went idle and buyers were told to stay at home.
Italy, which went into lockdown first, suffered the biggest drop in car sales: 85 percent in March. That suggests that the damage to the European car industry could be even more severe in April, depending on how quickly lockdowns ease.
Automakers are eager to get their assembly lines rolling again, and some — including Volkswagen, Volvo and Daimler — will cautiously begin doing so on Monday.
The companies will essentially be conducting a grand experiment in whether it is possible to run a big factory without exposing workers to infection and provoking a renewed outbreak.
“The best thing we can do to help society is to find ways to restart the company in a safe way,” Hakan Samuelsson, the chief executive of Volvo Cars, said in a statement on Friday.
Assembly lines will be staffed by workers in masks and protective clothing, sometimes separated from one another by plastic screens. Shift changes will be staggered to minimize the number of people who come in contact with others.
Showrooms will also begin reopening. Opel, a unit of the French automaker PSA, said it would reopen its German dealerships on Monday after the German government announced that it would gradually ease lockdown restrictions.
The big question now is how quickly sales will rebound, and how much of the lost revenue car companies will be able to make up later in the year. Even after the virus recedes, carmakers will face formidable problems.
Many people are likely to re-emerge from home quarantine significantly poorer because they lost their jobs or suffered steep declines in income. Supply chains are in turmoil. The economy of China, a critical market for Volvo and the German carmakers, shrank for the first time in decades, the government reported Friday.
The sales declines could leave permanent scars on some automakers, many of which were already struggling. Fiat Chrysler sales plummeted 77 percent in March, reflecting the grave health crisis in its stronghold of Italy.
The company sold 27,000 cars during the month, including sales in Britain and Switzerland, which are not members of the European Union. Fiat fell behind not only most of its European rivals but also foreign brands like Hyundai and Toyota that were once considered niche players.
PSA, whose sales are skewed toward southern Europe, also suffered disproportionately. Its sales plunged 68 percent, in line with declines of around 70 percent in Spain and France. PSA, whose brands include Peugeot, Citroën and Opel, is merging with Fiat.
The German carmakers BMW, Daimler and Volkswagen fared marginally better, with declines of less than 50 percent. But it is unclear whether they are more resistant to the economic chaos caused by the virus or simply benefiting temporarily from their strength in northern European countries that generally began lockdowns later in March.
New registrations in Germany fell 38 percent during the month, still a catastrophic decline. Vehicles are Germany’s biggest export, and its economy is much more dependent on the auto industry than is France’s or Italy’s.
Most assembly-line employees have been furloughed, but at least some will be reporting to work on Monday.
Volkswagen, which has already restarted limited production at some parts factories, plans to reopen factories in Zwickau, Germany, and Bratislava, Slovakia, on Monday. Other factories around the world will follow later in April and in May, Volkswagen said.
Daimler, the maker of Mercedes-Benz cars and trucks, said that next week it would reopen three German factories that produce vital parts, such as a system made in Berlin that controls the valves of an internal combustion engine. The plants will initially operate for one shift a day as Daimler gradually restarts operations in Germany.
BMW has begun preparations to reopen factories, a spokeswoman said Friday, but at the moment does not plan to do so before the end of April.
Volvo Cars said it would reopen its factories and offices in Sweden on Monday. Workers entering the plant will be able to voluntarily submit to health checks, and workstations have been rearranged to keep employees at a safe distance from one another, the company said.
Fiat, PSA and Renault have not yet said when they will reopen their factories.