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Vehicles, aerospace and defence

Car manufacturer financial model, built free.

A three-statement Excel model for a vehicle manufacturer (including electric-vehicle makers), built from your own figures and checked to balance.

  • Free account
  • No card
  • Usually ready within the hour

We use generative AI in parts of our process, so mistakes can occur. Every model should be checked by a person before it is relied on. Read more

The business

Designs, builds and sells passenger and commercial vehicles (combustion, hybrid and battery-electric) through dealers or direct, earning volume × net price less materials, conversion and warranty, with model cycles, emissions credits or penalties and a captive finance arm.

See the sampleHow the model works

In short

  • 01

    Three linked statements

    Income statement, balance sheet and cash flow, linked in every period.

  • 02

    Valued three ways

    Discounted cash flow, trading multiples and sum of the parts, side by side.

  • 03

    Monthly to annual

    Monthly, quarterly, half-yearly or annual periods, for up to 30 years.

  • 04

    Checked every period

    A Checks sheet shows the balance sheet balances and the cash reconciles.

The sample

The sample, as Excel draws it.

Built by the same system and checks as yours, on illustrative figures: every sheet as Excel draws it, or live.

Annual · 10 years · Low detail
Car manufacturer sample model.xlsx
The Summary sheet of the sample car manufacturer model

Illustrative figures: the sample describes no real business. The live preview shows values; your model’s Excel file has every formula.

How it works

How the model works for a car manufacturer.

  1. How it earns revenue3 formulas
    Loan yield and interest income · All loan portfolios
    Interest incomeAverage gross loansPortfolio yield (base rate + margin)share of the year
    Pricing and pass-through · All product lines
    Product sales revenueUnits soldfrom sales volumes by productAverage selling price
    Pricing and pass-through · All product lines
    Average selling priceAverage selling price at the start datePrice index
  2. What drives its costs3 formulas
    Expected credit loss and write-offs · All loan portfolios
    Closing allowanceClosing gross loansfrom loan origination and runoffECL allowance coverage (% of gross loans)
    Expected credit loss and write-offs · All loan portfolios
    Credit loss expense (net write-offs + change in allowance)Write-offs (net of recoveries)Closing allowanceOpening allowance
    Expected credit loss and write-offs · All loan portfolios
    Write-offs (net of recoveries)Gross write-offsRecoveries
  3. What it invests in3 formulas
    Plant capex and depreciation · All plants
    Plant capital expenditureSustaining capexGrowth capex
    Plant capex and depreciation · All plants
    Plant depreciationDepreciation of existing assetsDepreciation of sustaining additionsProject 1 depreciation (from commissioning)from from commissioningProject 2 depreciation (from commissioning)from from commissioningProject 3 depreciation (from commissioning)from from commissioning
    Plant capex and depreciation · All plants
    Closing net book valueOpening net book valuePlant capital expenditurePlant depreciation
  4. How it is funded3 formulas
    Loan origination and runoff · All loan portfolios
    Closing gross loansOpening gross loansNew lending (settlements)Scheduled amortisationPrepayments and other runoff (including loans written off)
    Loan origination and runoff · All loan portfolios
    Net loans advanced (new lending less cash repayments)Closing gross loansOpening gross loansWrite-offs (net of recoveries)from expected credit loss and write-offs
    Debt
    RepaymentsScheduled repaymentsPrepayments from an equity raise and the cash sweep
  5. How profit becomes cash3 formulas
    Working capital
    Trade receivablesRevenuefrom statementsDebtor daysDays in period
    Working capital
    InventoryDirect costs (positive)from statementsInventory daysDays in period
    Working capital
    Trade payablesCash operating costs (positive)from statementsCreditor daysDays in period
What it covers

37 parts, each one tested.

Every part is a tested building block with its own checks: yours is put together from the ones your business needs.

  • CPI forecastConsensus curve with long-run anchor
  • Exchange rate (US dollar)Exchange rate by financial year
  • Operating expensesHeadcount build by function
  • Corporate costsFixed cost base indexed to CPI
  • Working capitalFull working capital
  • Income taxCorporate rate with tax losses
  • Corporate fixed assetsStraight-line over remaining life
  • DebtAmortising term loan
  • Equity raisingDistribution reinvestment plan
  • Dividends and distributionsPayout of net profit
  • Discounted cash flow valuationDCF on free cash flow to the firm
  • Multiples valuationEV / EBITDA multiple
  • Interest-rate hedgingHedged share at a fixed rate
  • LeasesLease register
  • Warehouse and securitisation fundingWarehouse advance rates
  • InventoryWeighted average costRaw materials, work-in-progress and finished goods held to support production and sales (used in place of the inventory part of working capital), and the cost-of-sales effect of the costing method and stock provisions.
  • Warranty provisionsWarranty as % of revenueThe cost of repairing or replacing faulty products sold, and the provision held for future claims.
  • Research, development and engineeringR&D intensityResearch, product development and sustaining engineering spend, the share capitalised as development costs and its amortisation, customer-funded engineering, and R&D tax incentives.
  • Key-metric summaryLast-twelve-month and run-rate metrics
  • Discount rate (WACC)CAPM at target gearing
  • Terminal valuePerpetuity growth on normalised cash flow
  • Sum of the partsRegister of parts on mixed bases
  • Interest-rate forecastMarket forward curve
  • Intangible assets and softwareRegister of acquired intangibles
  • Enterprise value to equity bridgeNet debt at the valuation date
  • Loan origination and runoffOriginations less runoff
  • Loan yield and interest incomeBase rate plus margin
  • Expected credit loss and write-offsAllowance coverage and write-off rate
  • Capacity and productionOperating days × daily rateHow much a plant can make and how much it does make, from capacity, operating time, utilisation and yield.
  • Direct labourFixed plus variable labourWages and on-costs of the production workforce at each plant.
  • MaintenanceFixed plus cost per unitRoutine maintenance and periodic shutdowns needed to keep plant running.
  • Plant fixed overheadsStep-fixed with shifts and linesSite costs that do not vary with output: site management and supervision, quality, site services, insurance, rates and other production overheads of each plant.
  • Plant capex and depreciationSustaining capex plus growth projectsSustaining and expansion capital expenditure on plant, and the depreciation and book value that follow.
  • Energy and carbonEnergy intensity × priceElectricity, gas and fuel used by a plant, and the cost of the carbon it emits.
  • Sales volumes by productEnd-market production × content per unitUnits sold of each product line.
  • Pricing and pass-throughPrice with annual increasesSelling price of each product line and the revenue it earns (units × price).
  • Bill of materials and input costsStandard cost per unitRaw materials, components and bought-in parts consumed by each product line.
Key numbers

The numbers it tracks.

  1. 01deliveries
  2. 02average selling price
  3. 03automotive gross margin
  4. 04battery cost per kWh
  5. 05R&D and capex per vehicle
  6. 06free cash flow
  7. 07liquidity
Used for

What it is used for.

Also used for
  • Scenarios and sensitivities
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The sample is built on illustrative figures and describes no real business. Models are calculations prepared from the information you provide. They are not financial advice and must be independently verified. See our terms.