German carmakers performed poorly compared to their competitors when it comes to sales since the start of the year, according to an analysis by the consulting firm EY.
German car manufacturers overall saw a 1.7% drop in sales and a 25% slump in profits, EY's report showed on Wednesday.
EY analysed the key financial figures of the 16 largest car manufacturers worldwide for the study.
German carmakers Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz generated a combined turnover of some €148 billion ($159 billion).
This still marked the second-highest figure in a first quarter since the study began in 2011.
In the first quarter, the turnover of all corporations combined increased by 3.9% to approximately €493 billion compared to the same period last year.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) were around 33.8 billion euros, 0.7% higher than a year earlier.
Japanese car manufacturers experienced a 87% increase in profits and a 17% growth in sales. This is mainly due to the sharp fall in the value of the yen, which has made Japanese products more affordable internationally and resulted in exchange rate advantages.
The average EBIT margin was 7.4%. South Korean car manufacturer Kia was the most profitable with an EBIT margin of 13.1%, leading ahead of BMW (11.1%) and Mercedes (10.8%).
Mercedes had been the most profitable group in 2023, ahead of Stellantis, the parent company of Opel and maker of Jeep.
The margin of US electric car manufacturer Tesla fell from 11.4% to 5.5% compared to the previous year.
Oerall, manufacturers sold some 15.5 million cars from January to March, which was around 3 million fewer vehicles than in the first quarter of 2019.