Hi Yu Tata, A "beneficiary" is someone who gets some kind of benefit or advantage (such as money) from others. Your sentence uses "beneficiary" on the car industry and states that the car industry started 2001 with a financial advantage because the previous three years (there are four quarters in each year) (1998-2000) saw the industry making profits.

It means that at the beginning of 2001, the 12 quarters (four years) before that had all been in profit, and that was a good thing for the industry, so they started 2001 in a good situation.