Volkswagen AG’s VWAGY brand, Porsche, registered record sales of 280,800 vehicles in 2019, indicating an increase of 10%, year on year. Porsche successfully countered the auto-industry downturn in the year, logging in solid year-over-year sales across all major markets.

Notably, the company recorded the largest growth in units of vehicles sold in Europe, reflecting an increase of 15%, year over year, with 88,975 vehicles sold in 2019. Meanwhile, sales volume in the United States and China was up 7% and 8%, year on year, with 61,568 and 87,752 vehicles sold, respectively. Moreover, 16,458 vehicles were delivered to customers in the Asia-Pacific, Africa and Middle East regions, reflecting a 7% rise from the prior year.

Further, sports utility vehicles, Cayenne and Macan, registered highest growth in 2019. The Cayenne registered total deliveries of 92,055, indicating an annual increase of 29%.

Porsche plans to unveil the all-new four-door Taycan 4S sedan early this year, which will be available in two models, the Performance Battery and the Performance Battery Plus. This apart, the company intends to roll out a more spacious version of the Cross Turismo vehicle by the end of the current year. The sports car manufacturer aims to spend more than €6 billion in electric mobility through 2022.

Volkswagen is aimed at driving earnings before interest and taxes by around €750 million, annually during the 2018-2025 period, by boosting efficiencies, reducing costs and raising investments from new businesses.

Volkswagen currently carries Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). The stock has outperformed the industry it belongs to over the past year. Its shares have appreciated 23.1% compared with the industry’s rise of 3.6%.

In 2019, Volkswagen shipped 10.8 million vehicles worldwide, indicating a 0.9% year-over-year rise. The company is in the process of making a shift to battery-electric vehicles. Its first long-range mass-market BEV, the VW ID3, is expected to hit the roads by mid 2020. Last November, the company announced plans to invest more than €4 billion ($4.43 billion) in China in 2020, with approximately 40% of it to be spent on the development of e-mobility.

Apart from e-mobility, the company looks forward to developing new mobility solutions and making improvements in smart cities and autonomous driving this year. It also plans to achieve 1.5 million EV sales with 30 different EV models by 2025.

Stocks to Consider

Some better-ranked stocks in the Auto-Tires-Trucks sector include Blue Bird Corporation BLBD, BRP Inc. DOOO and SPX Corporation SPXC, each carrying a Zacks Rank of 2 (Buy), at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 (Strong Buy) Rank stocks here.

Blue Bird has an estimated earnings growth rate of 25.47% for 2020. The company’s shares have appreciated 7.6% in a year’s time.

BRP has a projected earnings growth rate of 19.75% for the ongoing year. Its shares have gained 57% over the past year.

SPX has an expected earnings growth rate of 8.09% for the current year. The stock has surged 79.7% in the past year.

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