Hedin Bil has published its third quarter results for 2018
Gothenburg November 2, 2018
Anders Hedin, Owner and CEO:
“Our expansion into the Belgian market continued in the third quarter with the acquisition of five Mercedes-Benz passenger car sales and aftermarket service dealerships around Antwerp from Andries NV. We also agreed to acquire two large Mercedes-Benz passenger car, commercial vehicles and truck dealerships strategically located between Ghent and Antwerp. Completion of the transaction is conditioned upon the approval from the Belgian competition authorities. We are already now the largest Mercedes-Benz dealer in Belgium, with a strong market presence in Eastern Flanders.
Vehicle sales in our home markets Sweden, Norway and Belgium has continued to be affected in the third quarter by tax and emission regulations. New vehicle registrations in Sweden and Norway decreased during the third quarter, mainly driven by changes in tax regulations in both countries. Our own sale of new vehicles also decreased, but less than the market as a whole. The market for electric cars in Norway is continuously growing and in September the share was 45 percent of the total market. This also set new record levels for average CO2 emissions of 55 grams per kilometer. In our new home market Belgium, our new vehicle sales decreased as a consequence of increasing demand for petrol powered cars that are currently short in supply, and the introduction on the new EU standard for emission measurement WLTP.
The wide range of vehicles with alternative drivetrains that are requested by the market are gradually launched in 2019 and 2020, which makes us anticipate a volatile short term market while the product offering is being updated.
Aftermarket sales shows a stable development for the Group. In Norway, we start seeing the effects of the switch to electric cars, where the service need is more limited than for traditional combustion engine cars. This is partly compensated by the increased complexity in hybrid drivetrains that are also increasing in sales”.
The interim report for the third quarter is available in on www.hedinbil.se.
I.A. Hedin Bil AB (publ)
The information in this press release is information which I.A. Hedin Bil AB is required to disclose under the EU Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No 596/2014. The information was provided by the contact person for publication on 1 Nov 2018 at 08:00 CET.
For further information please contact Emma Andersson, Corporate Communication Manager: +46 707 936 053; emma.andersson@andershedininvest.se