Suzuki overtakes BMW to be world's most profitable carmaker

Khodrocar - Long-running champion of the profit-per-vehicle game, BMW has been usurped by an unlikely challenger – Suzuki.

Manager Magazin cites a study by Ernst & Young, which shows Suzuki enjoyed an 11.8 per cent profit margin during the second quarter of 2018, putting it ahead of BMW on 11.4 per cent.

For those interested, Daimler (6.5 per cent) finished in sixth place, while the Volkswagen Group (6.5 per cent) was seventh.

If you combine the first and second quarter, BMW edges in front of its Japanese challenger.

Nonetheless, it's still an impressive feat, given BMW has ever-expanding range of luxury vehicles stretching from attainable to 'if you need to ask the price you're not the target market', while Suzuki is firmly entrenched at the value end of the market.

It should be noted, Suzuki has a dominant position in the growing Indian market, where almost 50 per of all new passenger cars sold wear Maruti Suzuki badges.

In terms of raw dollars and cents, Toyota made the most money.

Peter Fuss, senior advisory partner in the automotive field for Ernst & Young, told Manager Magazin all German brands faced "strong headwinds" during the first half of the year, including the rapid drop in the popularity of diesel engines, large capital outlays, currency losses, and an ongoing trade war between China and the US.

President Donald Trump has also threatened to block German marques from selling cars in the US, and introduced tariffs on steel and aluminium imported from EU, Mexico and Canada.

Fuss noted these challenges are likely to continue during the second half of the year.