[AUTO] Seat loses 271 million in the first half of 2020 and cuts sales in half

[YaKuZa--BoSs]

The company plans to reduce these losses in the second half but highlights the uncertainty caused by the outbreaks.

 

 

Seat has suffered strongly from the stoppage of activity caused by the Covid pandemic. The operating result for the first half of the year showed a loss of 271 million euros. In the same period of 2019, Seat earned 216 million euros.

This means that in the second quarter the Spanish company lost 223 million. In this period it suffered the cessation of activity in its main European markets, including Spain where its main factory, that of Martorell, was stopped from March 13 to mid-May.

"Seat has suffered strongly from the effects of Covid in key markets such as Spain and other European countries," according to Volkswagen Group Chief Financial Officer Frank Witter.

This slowdown in activity has also been reflected in sales that fall almost half since in these first six months it has sold 197,000 cars for the 310,000 it marketed in the first half of 2019.

This has caused revenues to have fallen dramatically to 3,749 million from the 6,266 million obtained in the first half of 2019.

These results were known during the presentation of results of the Volkswagen group, owner of the Spanish company, in the first half of 2020. The German consortium obtained a negative operating result of 1,490 million euros.

"We cannot know when or how the second wave of Covid will affect many regions," Witter said. "There will be recovery and we will work hard to get the best figures, but we do not know what that recovery will be like," explained the head of finance at Volkswagen.