Despite the negative economic effects of the COVID-19 epidemic, new vehicle sales at AutoWallis performed above market average. Partly due to the expanding markets and growing model portfolio – specifically the inclusion of the SsangYong brand and the Land Rover Defender – the group’s International Distribution Business Unit increased new vehicle sales by 15.6% to 1,244 in the first six months of the year compared to last year. New vehicle sales at the Domestic Distribution Business Unit decreased by 5.6% to 1,547, which is significantly better than the 24.75% shrinking of the Hungarian market (source: DataHouse). Regarding the first half sales figures, Gábor Ormosy, CEO of AutoWallis pointed out that the below market average decrease could also be contributed to the prevailing presence of AutoWallis in the premium segment, which had performed favorably in most markets of the concerned region. In the Automotive Services Business Unit, the negative economic effects of restrictive government measures aiming to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 epidemic were much stronger felt. On the one hand, clients resorted to after-sales services much less in the first half of the year due to the curfews and other restrictions, while the sudden, significant and hopefully temporary decline in tourism and business travel has significantly reduced the performance for car rentals, which could be only partially offset by the alternative utilization of the rental fleet (e.g. courier services). As a result, the number of service hours decreased by 5.4% to 23,772, the fleet size calculated for car rentals decreased by 12% to 438, and the number of rental events decreased by 61.2% to 4,352.

The CEO of AutoWallis explained that although the adverse effects could be felt in the first half sales figures, the corporation’s performance was above market average in all business units. The company expects that there will be no further restrictive measures of the same magnitude as last spring, resulting in customer activity gradually approaching normal levels. The management of the company realized five major business developments both in Hungary and abroad, thus continuing along the lines of its strategy announced last year, which assumes that by 2029 it will be a dominant mobility service provider for the Central and Eastern European region.