Due to the corona crisis, the carmaker sold 63 percent fewer cars in the second quarter than in the previous year. That made for deep red numbers.
From €4.65 billion profit to €1.05 billion loss
The Italian-American automaker Fiat Chrysler (FCA) slipped deep into the red in the corona crisis. The bottom line was a loss of EUR 1.05 billion in the second quarter, as the company announced on Friday in London. A year ago, FCA had made a profit of 4.65 billion euros.
63 percent sales decline
Fiat Chrysler sold a total of 424,000 cars, 63 percent fewer vehicles in the months from April to June, because the belts stood still for weeks and the demand was almost completely eliminated. Sales slumped 56 percent to 11.7 billion euros.
Positive in United States
The company remained profitable in the important US market and still achieved a small operating profit there. Above all, however, there were high losses in Europe. In the United States, Chrysler has always earned the majority of its profits with its massive, large trucks and SUVs, while in Europe Fiat sells small and medium-sized compact cars.
In total, there was a loss of 928 million euros in the day-to-day business before special items, analysts had feared significantly more.
The second quarter showed that decisive action and the extraordinary contribution of the workforce had made it possible for FCA to contain the influence of the Covid-19 crisis, said Fiat Chrysler boss Mike Manley.
