AutoBeta(AutoBeta.net)03/28 Report--

Volkswagen CEO Herbert Dis suddenly went on Weibo hot search because he publicly "complained" in recent days that only China contributed to Volkswagen Group's revenue at a time of the pneumonia epidemic, and there was no revenue in other markets.

China has well controlled the spread of the virus during the COVID-19 epidemic, but there are still signs of virus spread in other countries and regions. Based on this, Volkswagen has closed almost all its factories in Europe and the Americas, while its plants in China have now resumed production.

Volkswagen Group CEO Herbert Dis said on the German ZDF program that if the novel coronavirus pandemic cannot be controlled like in China, it may have to lay off staff because there is no sales or revenue in markets outside China, and they still have to bear high fixed costs of about 2 billion euros (about 15.8 billion yuan) per week.

Deiss also said that car sales in markets other than china have actually stalled, while demand in Volkswagen's largest single market has returned to about 50% of pre-crisis levels.

He believes that decisive action is essential to defeat the coronavirus epidemic. Mr Deiss said Volkswagen could tolerate factory closures in Europe and the Americas "for weeks or even months, but not indefinitely". The company is financially sound, but he does not rule out taking "structural measures to adjust" in a worst-case scenario if the crisis lasts for months or even years.

China is the largest single market of Volkswagen Group in the world, contributing nearly 40% of Volkswagen's sales and huge profits. Many netizens commented on the popular search for the speech made by Volkswagen CEO Herbert Dis.

Among them, the most discussed and liked comment was "Chinese people open their eyes." no, no, no. no, no, no. This company takes the lives of Chinese car owners seriously. "

In addition, the top comment was-"can domestic Volkswagen cars be of the same quality as abroad?" Don't do the double-standard reduction. "

"Volkswagen's car is still selling so well after cutting corners in China. Wake up."

"do you think boasting about China can cover up the weakness of Passat's a-pillar?"

"if you simply match the cars sold in China by 10% and increase the price by 10%, the problem will be solved and perfect. The public knows China best. "

Many netizens questioned and asked, "Why is the quality of the Chinese market still the worst?"

Perhaps, the questions and questions of netizens and Chinese consumers will not be answered, but judging from the current public opinion environment, Volkswagen's performance in the Chinese market seems to hurt car owners and consumers, facing a crisis of public opinion.

According to sales figures released by Volkswagen Group, Volkswagen Group's global sales reached 10.9746 million vehicles in 2019, an increase of 1.3% year-on-year and a record high. Among them, the Chinese market grew slightly by 0.6% compared with the same period last year, with overall sales reaching 4.2336 million vehicles, accounting for 38.6% of Volkswagen's global sales.

In addition, Volkswagen sold 6.2783 million vehicles worldwide in 2019, up 0.5 per cent year-on-year. In China, the world's largest single market, Volkswagen brand sales rose 1.7% in 2019 to 3.1632 million vehicles, accounting for 50.38% of Volkswagen brand global sales. As a result, the Volkswagen brand continues to be the most popular local car brand.

According to the 2019 financial report, Volkswagen Group's annual sales revenue was 252.6 billion euros, up 7.1% from the same period last year; operating profit was 17 billion euros, up 21.8% from the same period last year; and operating profit excluding special project expenses was 19.3 billion euros, up 12.8% from the same period last year. Special project expenditure includes fines and expenses for the settlement of the "emission gate" totaling 2.3 billion euros.

Volkswagen owns about 50 per cent of the joint venture in the Chinese market, accounting for nearly 30 per cent of its total operating profit of 4.4 billion euros in 2019.

Welcome to subscribe to the WeChat public account "Automotive Industry Focus" to get the first-hand insider information on the automotive industry and talk about things in the automotive circle. Welcome to break the news! WeChat ID autoWechat