The corona crisis is hard on the automotive industry. However, PSA, with the Citroen, Opel and Peugeot brands, does not slip into the red. Opel wants to grow.The French automaker PSA remained in the black in the first half of the year despite high losses due to the corona crisis. Although the net profit collapsed by more than two thirds in the first six months, it still totaled 595 million euros, as PSA announced with the core brands Peugeot, Citroën and Opel. Sales fell by more than a third to 25.1 billion euros.Against the background of the corona lockdown, the group "can be seen with its balance sheet," said Opel boss Michael Lohscheller. The group has "held its own remarkably". Opel therefore contributed earnings before interest and taxes of 110 million euros. "Opel is therefore sustainably profitable," and that for the fifth half in a row, as Lohscheller emphasized.
Opel is sticking to all important projects
The Opel boss also warned that a sustainable recovery is uncertain. Nobody knows whether a second lockdown is imminent. "This could lead to the next sharp drop in demand and supply chain disruptions." However, Opel is sticking to all important projects, such as the planned battery cell production in Kaiserslautern.The next generation of the Astra will be produced in Rüsselsheim from 2021. At the same time, Opel will open up further markets, after Russia "we will soon gain a foothold in Japan, among other things," announced Lohscheller.PSA boss Carlos Taveres praised the "resilience" of the group, the result of "six years of hard work". PSA is "firmly determined" to make a "solid recovery" in the second half of the year.PSA is in the middle of the planned merger with the American manufacturer Fiat Chrysler. The merger under the name "Stellantis" should be completed by the end of the first half of 2021; according to Tavares. This would create the fourth largest automobile manufacturer in the world.
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