Volkswagen Sees V-Shaped Auto Rebound for China; South Europe More 'Bathtub-Shaped'
06 May 2020 - 7:28PM
Dow Jones News
By William Boston
BERLIN--Volkswagen AG, the world's biggest car maker by sales,
sees major automotive markets recovering at different paces.
Juergen Stackmann, board member in charge of sales at the
Volkswagen brand car group, told reporters on Wednesday that sales
in April had essentially already returned to pre-crisis levels in
China, which he said is experiencing a classic V-shaped
recovery.
"We've all been debating whether there will be a V-shaped
recovery or not," Mr. Stackmann said. "It is clear that China is
going through corona with a typical V-shaped recovery."
There are unique factors that made China different before the
crisis that are now coming into play to help that market. The most
important is the lower rate of car ownership per capita in China
compared to Europe and the U.S.
In Europe, however, the recovery in the industry is expected to
be slower and advance at different paces in northern and southern
Europe.
"We're not really counting on a V-shaped recovery in Europe," he
said. "In Europe, we all have cars, so we think the recovery in
Europe will take longer. We're looking at a two-speed Europe.
Southern Europe was hit really bad. It's going to take longer than
China. More bathtub-shaped, as the economists say. Northern Europe
is standing up really well."
Write to William Boston at william.boston@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 06, 2020 05:13 ET (09:13 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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