Thursday, October 22, 2009
Peugeot sales figures disappoint
Shares in Peugeot Citroen, Europe's second-biggest carmaker, have fallen 7% after the company reported lower-than-forecast third-quarter sales.
Sales fell 7.7% from a year earlier to 11.8bn euros ($17.7bn; £10.8bn).
Sales in Europe were boosted by various government-backed scrappage schemes, which helped sales of smaller models in particular.
However, this was offset by a steep drop in sales in Russia, Eastern Europe and Latin America.
Inventories of unsold vehicles, which were a major concern for carmakers when the crisis hit last year, decreased by 36% to 400,000 vehicles compared with 628,000 at the start of the year, the company said.
Peugeot Citroen's disappointing figures are indicative of the wider troubles that continue to affect the car industry, with companies outside of Europe being especially badly hit.
On Wednesday, Russia's largest manufacturer of cars, Avtovaz, said it could have to file for bankruptcy because of a collapse in sales and massive debts.
The company has already shed more than 25,000 of its 100,000-strong workforce to try to keep afloat.
DATED: 22.10.09
FEED: AW
