Porsche Holding Salzburg copes well with a roller-coaster automotive year in 2021 and continues on its transformational course

• New car sales of 669,500 vehicles (+2.4 per cent) slightly above the previous year; record sales not reflected in new registration figures due to production and delivery bottlenecks
• Sales of used cars down slightly (-2 per cent) at 215,400 vehicles due to a thinning of supply
• Course of international expansion continued with new strategic acquisitions; retail locations at a stable level of 525
• Number of employees grows to 34,100 worldwide (+3.8 per cent)
• Transformational course advanced further with the focus on e-mobility and digitalization as well as internationalisation and sustainability
• MOON Power GmbH scores points as an e-mobility system provider and pushes international growth forward with market entry in Germany
• Outlook 2022: record order backlog as a solid basis for a good automotive year; gradual stabilisation of the semiconductor and supply issues expected; return to pre-crisis level not for another two to three years; passenger car market of 265,000 vehicles in Austria realistic according to the latest estimates of international market conditions

 

Salzburg/Vienna, 16 December 2021 - Porsche Holding Salzburg, which operates in the wholesale, retail and financial services sectors in a total of 29 countries in Europe, Asia and South America, was able to achieve a satisfactory result in the automotive year 2021, which was marked by the coronavirus pandemic and a shortage of chips, with good sales and record order backlogs, thereby laying a solid foundation for 2022.

"The potential for an excellent automotive year was definitely there, but the coronavirus pandemic and the semiconductor issue thwarted our plans here. The markets would have allowed a higher number of new registrations, but after a really good first half-year, the chip shortage hit us hard in the second half of the year. Nevertheless, we were able to achieve new car sales just above the previous year, with the focus on higher-margin vehicles having a positive effect on the result and with trade also benefiting significantly," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger, CEO of the Porsche Holding Management Board, at the annual press conference of Porsche Holding Salzburg in Vienna.

Challenges for 2021:

The car market has been on a roller-coaster ride over the last twelve months and the automotive year has gone from a Covid restart year to a year of consolidation. This brought numerous challenges to overcome:

• The ongoing shortage of semiconductors has led to extreme production and delivery bottlenecks, which took full effect in the second half of the year and resulted in unusually long delivery times for customers.
• The production and delivery bottlenecks for new cars have led to an increased demand for used cars as well as to less availability of demonstration and nearly-new cars and have also thinned out the supply here.
• Covid-related organisational adaptation of working environments in automotive retail. Hybrid working environments with a strong focus on mobile working as well as Covid safety measures and temporary test and vaccination sites have permanently changed working environments.
• E-mobility in Austria - encouraged by the investment premium, the e-mobility bonus, tax incentives and numerous new product releases - was better accepted by business and private customers than had been predicted. The result was longer delivery times and subsidies exhausted at regional levels. It is encouraging for 2022 that subsidies for electric vehicles in Austria will continue next year. "Our common goal is to enable as many customers as possible to switch to e-mobility and to further promote the market breakthrough for CO₂-neutral mobility. The extension of the subsidies is an important step in this direction," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger.

• The new NoVA regulation for light commercial vehicles in Austria, which came into force for the first time at the beginning of July 2021, and delayed deliveries due to the chip shortage have caused tension among corporate customers.

"We can look back on 2021 with mixed emotions," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger. "Despite all the challenges, we have achieved a solid annual result and at the same time have been able to continue on our chosen path of transformation and drive forward strategic topics such as e-mobility, digitalization and sustainability."

Key figures of Porsche Holding Salzburg for 2021 (projection)

"Strong and innovative brands and a strong positioning of the distribution network have proven to be a real asset for us in economically challenging times such as these. Despite limited supply, a balance of volume and income and the elimination of discount and short-registration sprees have contributed to the fact that our trade organisation and partners have come through the year in a stable and sustainable manner," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger in summary.

 

• Porsche Holding Salzburg sold a total of 669,500 new cars (+2.4 per cent) in wholesale and retail in 2021. "The positive sales figures and record order book in our markets across all our brands are unfortunately not reflected in new registrations in 2021. Resolution of the long delivery times which are unusual for us as a result of the record order backlogs that have built up will continue throughout the coming automotive year," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger.
• At 215,400 vehicles (-2 per cent), sales of used cars could not quite reach the previous year's level, mainly due to the low availability of demonstration and nearly-new cars.
• The number of employees rose to 34,100 (+3.8 per cent) worldwide, partly due to the acquisitions in retail.
• The number of retail locations remained stable at 525.

 

Passenger vehicle market in Austria (1-11/2021)

After a good start of the year, the Austrian passenger vehicle market has steadily lost momentum due to the lack of semiconductors and the resulting supply bottlenecks and, with 222,186 new registrations after eleven months, was even 1.3 per cent behind the result for the same period last year. In contrast, the electric vehicle segment was on a continuous growth path: with 29,955 vehicles (13.5 per cent market share), one in seven new registrations is already fully electric.

The Volkswagen Group brands remain stable at a high market share level and, with a cumulative 83,146 vehicles and 37.4 per cent, are up 0.4 percentage points on the same period last year, contrary to the market as a whole. The good market performance for the Group brands is also evident in electric vehicles - the market share here is 36.7 per cent with 10,986 vehicles. 

In Austrian brand rankings, Volkswagen, ŠKODA and SEAT occupy the top three places after the first eleven months. Audi continues to rank second among the premium brands, well ahead of other volume brands. There are once again eight Group models in the top ten of the model rankings, and as many as 14 in the top 20.

The leading position of the Volkswagen Group brands is also reflected in the electric vehicles. One in three fully-electric new registrations bears a logo from the Volkswagen Group. In the brand ranking for e-vehicles, Volkswagen is at the top with 5,618 vehicles, ŠKODA follows in third place with 2,218 vehicles and Audi in fifth place (1,931 vehicles). The breadth and strength of the Volkswagen Group brands' range of electric vehicles is highlighted by looking at the e-model ranking: ID.3 is in 2nd place before ID.4 and Enyaq iV; Audi etron and SEAT Mii follow in 7th and 8th place respectively.

Volkswagen Group brands at a glance (1-11/2021):

With 33,918 new registrations, Volkswagen Passenger Cars clearly leads the brand rankings after the first eleven months of the year and takes top position for the 65th time in uninterrupted succession (since 1957). With a market share of 15.3 per cent, one in six vehicles newly registered in Austria bears the VW logo. Five Volkswagen models are again in the top ten of the model rankings: Golf, T-Roc, VW Bus, Polo and T-Cross.                             

With 20,088 newly registered vehicles, the ŠKODA brand holds a commanding second place in the brand ranking (9 per cent market share). Two models are again represented in the top ten, with OCTAVIA taking second place and FABIA coming in sixth.

With 14,378 new registrations and a market share of 6.5 per cent, SEAT (not including CUPRA) secures 3rd place in the brand rankings. The Spanish brand's success in this country is driven by the Ibiza (7th), Arona (12th), Leon (14th) and Ateca (21st) models which were redesigned in the first half of the year.

CUPRA recorded 1,727 new registrations in the first eleven months of the year and achieved a 0.8 per cent market share. The most successful CUPRA model is the Formentor, which accounts for more than three quarters of the CUPRA volume. The all-electric CUPRA Born has expanded the range since mid-November, opening up new, additional customers for the Spanish brands.

With 11,806 new registrations and a market share of 5.3 per cent, the premium brand Audi continues to perform stably at a high level. Audi's success is largely driven by the A3 and Q3, Q5, A4 and Audi e-tron models, which account for almost two-thirds of new registrations in Ingolstadt.

With 1,229 new registrations (0.6 per cent market share), the Porsche sports car brand remains at a consistently high level. This makes Austria one of the markets with the highest market share in the Porsche world. The most popular models from the Zuffenhausen location are the 911, Cayenne and the all-electric Taycan.

The luxury brands Bentley and Lamborghini are distributed in Austria and the CEE countries by Exclusive Cars Wien. A total of 179 Bentleys (+26 per cent) and 190 Lamborghinis (-9.1 per cent) have been delivered so far in 2021. The Ducati motorcycle brand recorded 774 new registrations up to the end of November (+25.2 percentage points compared with the same period last year).

Development of different drive systems (1-11/2021)

The shift away from classic combustion engines towards alternative drives that began with the transformation to e-mobility continued in the 2021 automotive year. The diesel share in the total market declined by 12.8 percentage points to 24.2 per cent, while the share of petrol-driven vehicles was 38.6 per cent (-5.6 percentage points). The share of alternative drive systems rose to 37.2 per cent (+18.4 percentage points).

 

The alternative drives are broken down as follows:

• Pure electric vehicles: 29,955 vehicles; at 13.5 per cent, the market share more than doubled compared with the same period last year.
• Models with a hybrid drive (mild hybrid and plug-in hybrid combined) amount to 52,492 vehicles and a 23.6 per cent market share.
• CNG models (natural gas-powered) and hydrogen models only play a minor role with 83 vehicles and 10 vehicles respectively.

Market expectation of Porsche Holding Salzburg in Austria for 2021

"The exact figure that we will end up with in the Austrian car market will still depend heavily on the final stretch and on the supply status. The fact is, however, that with 238,000-240,000 newly registered vehicles, we are below the previous year's result. This is the lowest market figure since 1984," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger. "For the Volkswagen Group brands, we expect just under 90,000 new registrations this year, which means we can end the year with a market share of over 37 per cent."

Investment activities in the retail sector continued

Despite the challenging economic environment, Porsche Holding Salzburg continued its strategic growth and prudent investment course in the retail sector. In Italy, the acquisition of the two car dealership groups Rinaldi S.p.A. in Piedmont and Baistrocchi S.p.A. in Emilia-Romagna added a total of seven new locations to Eurocar Italia this year. In France, the Suffren dealership located near the Eiffel Tower has been part of the Volkswagen Group Retail France sales network with two locations since autumn this year. In Berlin, VGRD's German distribution network was expanded with the Möbus dealership. In Sweden, the DIN Bill Group has also set the course for the acquisition of the 13-location Bilmetro car dealership group, thereby strengthening its presence in central Sweden.

Porsche Bank Group further expands its leading position as a financial services provider

In the 2021 financial year, the Porsche Bank Group, which operates in 15 countries and has around 1,500 employees in the financing, insurance and maintenance contract business, was able to expand its leading position as a mobility financial services provider. A new all-time high was achieved with a portfolio of 2 million contracts (+3 per cent on 2020). Almost every second Group vehicle delivered in the Porsche Holding Salzburg countries (45 per cent) is therefore financed by Porsche Bank. The total assets of the entire Porsche Bank Group amounted to approximately 7.7 billion euros in 2021.

Porsche Bank is constantly expanding its existing range of services: since November 2021 for instance, in addition to commercial customers, municipalities and local authorities, private individuals have also been able to use the car-sharing service sharetoo at top locations in Vienna for the first time. Customers will have access to a fully electric fleet of vehicles at start locations such as Schubertring, Messe, Operngarage and Hauffgasse.

With the Porsche Mobility Store, Porsche Bank is currently working together with the Volkswagen Group in Vienna on a pilot project that can serve as a model for "mobility as a service". The existing mobility solutions such as Rent a Car, autoabo and sharetoo will be brought together on an online platform. From here, customers can choose the mobility solution that suits them best. The Porsche Mobility Store will go online for the first time during the course of 2022. 

Porsche Informatik drives digital transformation with customised applications

Porsche Informatik is a subsidiary of Porsche Holding Salzburg with 700 employees in 31 countries and operating on four continents. Porsche Informatik was able to continue on its growth path in 2021 with customised applications for importers, car dealerships and financial service providers, thereby also helping to drive the digital transformation of Porsche Holding Salzburg. This year, for instance, the new sales support programme VU3 and a cross-border digital used car hub were developed, which will be rolled out in stages from Austria to the Porsche Holding countries.

MOON Power GmbH: International growth with a focus on the German market

Porsche Holding Salzburg established the MOON brand in 2019 as a subsidiary of Allmobil GmbH, in order to drive forward future and innovation topics across brands with a special focus on e-mobility and comprehensive energy solutions. Following the successful development and start-up of its business activities, Porsche Holding Salzburg created a new independent organisation, MOON Power GmbH in Salzburg, in autumn 2021.

"MOON is a strong lever for us in the transformation towards e-mobility. With MOON Power GmbH, we have created the basis for independent economic expansion and the next growth steps. We will continue to internationalise MOON and roll it out consistently in our markets," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger, setting the direction.

MOON Power GmbH Germany, based in Eching, was founded as a wholly-owned subsidiary in order to be able to develop the focus market of Germany in an even more targeted manner than previously. Germany is one of those European markets where e-mobility will achieve the greatest growth in future and where there is an increasing demand for innovative comprehensive solutions for charging and energy management.

The young brand continued its internationalisation strategy in the 2021 financial year and is already operating in 18 countries overall and in two countries with established companies. Today, MOON employs a total of around 30 people, who have generated a turnover of more than 26 million euros since the company was founded. Around 15 new employees will work for MOON in Germany as part of the first expansion phase. 

The MOONCITY stores are very popular as places for dialogue and information on the road to e-mobility - the MOONCITY pop-up store on Mariahilferstraße alone recorded more than 50,000 visitors. MOONCITY Vienna in Kärntnerstraße, as a flagship store, is the logical continuation of the concept in the heart of Vienna and, in addition to Salzburg, is the second permanent MOONCITY in the country. MOONCITY pop-up stores have already opened in Bratislava, Ljubljana and Zagreb; Budapest and Lisbon will also follow this year.

Outlook for the automotive year 2022:

Porsche Holding Salzburg expects market conditions to remain volatile and challenging for 2022.

With the expected containment of the pandemic and a projected gradual stabilisation of the semiconductor and supply issues, the trend towards car purchases that is noticeable in the markets should continue, encouraged by numerous new releases in the conventional as well as alternative/electric drive systems.

The coronavirus pandemic has brought individual mobility and appreciation for the car back to the forefront in many markets, including in Austria. The trend towards better equipped vehicles will also continue in line with this. In addition, the topic of mobility services will gain even more attention. 

"High order backlogs built up over the last twelve months do indeed provide a solid economic basis for the start of the year for the sales organisation at Porsche Holding Salzburg worldwide. What is important now, however, is that we shorten the delivery times and gradually get the vehicles on the road in order to be able to serve the mobility needs of our customers that have been piling up in recent months," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger.

The recovery of the overall market environment will continue to be very slow. A return to pre-Covid levels in terms of unit sales is only realistic in two to three years.

"As far as the passenger car market in Austria in 2022 is concerned, we expect deliveries to our customers to be significantly higher than the previous year's figure, provided that sufficient supply can be secured. Taking into account the latest international market conditions, we believe that the domestic passenger car market has a realistic potential of up to 265,000 vehicles and that an increase of around 10 per cent on last year is possible. This would be an important first step towards a sustainable recovery; however, in our view, the true potential is much higher," says Dr Hans Peter Schützinger.

E-mobility will continue to gain momentum and experience significant market growth in all those countries where the subsidy measures make a switch attractive. The model range has increased rapidly in recent months; attractive new releases are also planned from all brands in 2022. "For the upcoming automotive year, we expect sales of fully electric vehicles at the Volkswagen Group brands in Austria to exceed the 20 per cent hurdle," concludes Dr Hans Peter Schützinger.

Key figures at PHS for the year 2021

New cars                         669,500 (+2.4 per cent)

Used cars                        215,400 (-2 per cent)

Dealer locations               525 in 29 countries

Employees                       34,100 (+3.8 per cent)