PARIS, April 21 (Xinhua) -- France's largest auto manufacturer PSA Group on Tuesday announced a 15.6-percent drop in its first-quarter revenue as the global COVID-19 crisis had weighed on demand.
For the January-March period this year, PSA saw its revenue at 15.2 billion euros (16.5 billion U.S. dollars). Revenue at the core automotive division tumbled by 15.7 percent year on year to 11.9 billion euros "driven by a sharp volume drop partially offset by a strong product mix," the group said in its financial report.
Affected by the coronavirus pandemic which locked down countries, global sales volumes dropped by 29 percent to 627,000 vehicles over the period, it added.
"Having secured its liquidity and drastically cut its costs, the group now fully focuses on preparing the rebound in a chaotic economic environment," said Philippe de Rovira, PSA's chief financial officer.
PSA expects the automotive market to tumble by 25 percent in Europe and Latin America, by 20 percent in Russia, and by 10 percent in China.
"The outlook is currently difficult to assess and will depend on the scale, duration and geographic extent of the COVID-19 crisis, as well as the measures taken by the countries concerned," it said. (1 euro = 1.08 U.S. dollars) Enditem
