Valeo has reported consolidated first-quarter sales of EUR4,841m down 1% (or 3% on a like-for-like basis).
But it also said that original equipment sales of EUR4,121m, 3% down, outpaced global automotive production (down 7%) by four percentage points.
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Aftermarket sales were down 4% as reported and on a like-for-like basis.
The company said 2019 guidance was unchanged but warned of volatile global automotive production (estimated growth of between 0% and -1% over the year compared with 2018) with a decline in the first half (due to the economic environment in China), and an improvement in the second half. There is also, it said, uncertainty regarding the price of raw materials and electronic components.
Jacques Aschenbroich, Valeo's Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: "Our outperformance versus automotive production accelerated in the first quarter, in line with our roadmap, in a challenging automotive market. This outperformance is set to continue to accelerate throughout the year in our four Business Groups and in all our geographic areas, thanks to the start of production on high-tech innovations.
"In a particularly unstable economic and geopolitical environment, we are pressing ahead with our plan to reduce costs and capital expenditure and we confirm our objectives for 2019."
