pills

Automotive DECODED

Previous edition: 08 May 2024
Share article

Get the full version straight to your inbox.
Exclusive access to our best-in-class data & intelligence
Subscribe now

Infineon CEO bullish

Infineon Technologies CEO Jochen Hanebeck has said the company was seeing “very strong momentum” in China’s automotive industry and expected Europe’s electric-vehicle market to recover next year.

According to Bloomberg, the world’s biggest automotive chip producer projected revenue in the current quarter would rise to about EUR3.8bn (US$4.1bn) from EUR3.6bn last quarter, reversing two consecutive periods of declining sales and signaling that a slump in demand from EV makers was ending.

“In China, we have very strong momentum now. In contrast, Europe and US are weak,” Hanebeck reportedly said on a call about the market for automotive chips, which make up more than half of Infineon’s revenue. “But in the EU, we believe that the market will pick up from 2025 onwards.”

Bloomberg noted China dominated global electric vehicle production, so the Asian market was critical for a turnaround in Infineon’s fortunes. The company and some of its peers had already predicted that a recovery in chip demand was near.

Nonetheless, recovery has proven slower than Infineon had previously indicated, Bloomberg noted. Revenue would be EUR15.1bn for the fiscal year which ends in September, plus or minus EUR400m, the German chipmaker said in a statement on Tuesday. That was the second time it had cut its 2024 projections, Bloomberg added, and the forecast fell below analysts’ estimate of EUR15.7bn.

Overall segment result margin was expected to be in the high teens percentage range in the third fiscal quarter, according to Infineon which Bloomberg said compared to analysts’ estimates of 20.9%.

Latest news

2024 future product report: Lincoln

A new CEO in the US last year and more recently a fresh leader for China have paused a formerly planned big push into EVs or at least tweaked and delayed the strategy.

Ford mulls restricting ICE vehicle sales in Britain - FT

Ford is reportedly considering restricting the sale of combustion engine (ICE) vehicles in the UK market on order to meet UK government targets for EV sales.

Sixt continues to reduce EVs in fleet

Europe’s largest car rental firm Sixt SE is continuing to reduce the number of electric vehicles in its fleet, Bloomberg reports.

Zeekr to close $367.5m IPO one day early

Chinese EV maker Zeekr will close its New York initial public offering (IPO) to raise up to $367.5 million this week, Reuters reports, citing two sources with direct knowledge of the matter.

Western European car market remains slow in April

The Western Europe car (passenger vehicle or PV) selling rate for April stood at just over 11 million units/year, similar to the March result and weaker than the close of 2023 or first two months of this year. With 960k vehicle registrations recorded, this represents an 11.5% improvement year-on-year (YoY). Year-to-date (YTD) sales grew by 6.4%.

Daihatsu resumes full production

Toyota small car subsidiary, Daihatsu Motor, said it had resumed full production at all of its plants this week after it was ordered to suspend operations late in December by the country’s ministry of land, infrastructure, transport and tourism (MLIT).

Peugeot quits Indonesia

Indonesia’s largest vehicle distributor, PT Astra International, said it had stopped selling Peugeot vehicles, ending the French brand’s 52 year presence in the south east Asian country.

Lucid loss wider than expected

Lucid has revealed a wider than expected loss as it contends with production challenges and uneven demand for high end electric vehicles.

Geopolitics 2024

Hear our experts discuss rising geopolitical tensions, new structural realities in the global economy, and more.

Watch Now

Newsletters in other sectors

Aerospace, Defence & Security

In data: Trends and trajectories in US defence spending
08 May 2024

Explore our market-leading Intelligence Centers

Still looking?

Search companies, themes, reports, as well as actionable data & insights spanning 22 global industries

Explorer

Access more premium companies when you subscribe to Explorer