The automakers sold fewer cars, but made a higher profit per vehicle. Ferrari is the leader in this category with $106,000 per vehicle.
Editor’s note: This feature was originally created by Motor1.com European editions. Images are displayed in Euro. We’ve converted Euro into US currency wherever applicable in the article’s text. Unprecedented challenges facing the auto industry in 2021 resulted in a record financial result for many OEMs from Europe and the United States, Japan, South Korea. This is perhaps the most shocking conclusion that can be drawn from an in-depth analysis of financial reports from 19 automobile manufacturers around the globe. Despite fewer cars being sold than before the pandemics, profits increased.
The revenue was $1.89 trillion according to financial statements of Aston Martin, BMW Group and Daimler, Ferrari Group, Ford, Geely Groups, General Motors. This is a 13 percent increase over 2020 but a decrease of 6 percent over 2019. The pattern of total units sold was not the same. These companies sold 69.54 millions vehicles in 2021. This was 2 percent more than 2020 and 14 percent less that in 2019. Automakers either increased or decreased discounts throughout the year. The lack of new cars due to chip shortages partly explains this strange trend in units sold and profit. Prices have risen because of the shortage of cars and higher demand after COVID lockdowns.
In fact, 2021’s average revenue per unit was $27270. This is an 11 percent increase over 2020 and 10 percent above 2019. Another interesting fact was revealed in the financial statements: operating profits. These 19 OEMs made more money in 2019 than they did in 2020. The profits generated from the operations of the companies (total revenue minus production costs and selling/administrative expenses) amounted to $143.97 billion in 2021.
These OEMs were able to offset large losses from internal combustion vehicles like sedans by focusing on EVs and SUVs. They took the remaining semiconductor supply and turned it into profitable lineups of vehicles, keeping them running while other less profitable models faded away. Ferrari is still the most profitable brand among all brands. The operating margin grew from 21.4 percent in 2020, to 25.5 percent last yea. According to the numbers, the company made an astonishing $106,078 per unit in 2021. Tesla came in second at $6,693 per vehicle.