Forvia’s sales fell by 2.6% in the third quarter, to 6.4 billion euros (6 billion in francs), the French automotive supplier said on Monday, affected by the sluggishness of the automobile market.
The manufacturer (formerly Faurecia), which is suffering in particular from the slowdown in sales of electric cars, had revised its results targets for the year 2024 downward on September 27.
In the third quarter, business growth was penalized by the drop in sales at Stellantis, particularly in North America, and “a large American automobile manufacturer of electric vehicles”, but it was supported by Volkswagen, Ford, Renault , Mercedes and Chery.
The ninth largest equipment manufacturer in the world (in terms of turnover in 2023) notably manufactures seats, interiors, headlights and exhaust systems.
Despite this decline in sales, the group explains that it has done better than the market as a whole.
“This outperformance demonstrates our ability to resist in a difficult environment,” said Patrick Koller, CEO of Forvia, in a press release.
“Uncertainty remains high in the European market, impacted by a slowdown in electrification and concerns related to CAFE (CO2 emissions) regulations, while the North American market suffers from high inventory levels. automobiles,” Mr. Koller said.
The manufacturer is targeting an operating margin of between 5% and 5.3% for the year 2024, compared to a forecast of 5.6% to 6.4% until September. Its annual turnover is targeted at 26.8-27.2 billion euros, compared to 27.5-28.5 billion previously targeted.
Forvia expects around 30 billion euros in order intake over the whole of 2024. The group also confirmed that its joint venture with BYD would support the opening of the Chinese manufacturer’s factories in Hungary and Turkey.
Heavily in debt since the takeover of the German group Hella in 2022, the equipment manufacturer had already announced in February a savings plan which could reduce its workforce in Europe by 10,000 people by 2028, out of 157,000 employees in total. Already 5,500 employees should have left Forvia by the end of 2025, the equipment manufacturer said.
This article was automatically published. Sources: ats / awp / afp
