The coronavirus outbreak will reduce Japanese automakers’ combined operating profit by 38 percent this business year, but the manufacturers may rebound faster than they did after the global financial crisis more than a decade ago, according to analysts at Goldman Sachs Group.
Demand could "recover relatively quickly” once the pandemic nears an end, Kota Yuzawa and other analysts wrote in a report. Honda Motor Co. was upgraded to a buy rating, from a hold, by the bank, which said its valuation was attractive after a share decline of about 25 percent this year.
The global auto industry, which was already seeing sputtering sales, is reeling from shutdowns aimed at preventing the spread of the pathogen, which has infected almost 2 million people across the globe. With showrooms shut, consumers aren’t buying cars and auto supply chains are in disarray, leaving factories idle. Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. are among those that have sought financing to weather the storm.