The European Commission (EC) reported in 2009 that the automotive sector (cars, trucks, buses etc.) has annual sales of €780 billion, with value added of over €140 billion. In 2007 approximately 70% of light vehicle (passenger and light commercial vehicles) production in the EU was in Germany, France, Spain, and the UK.
During the 2000s, production growth came in particular from Poland, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, being close to new customers and benefitting from less costly labour with manufacturing skills.
Worldwide, 65 million cars were registered in 2011, of which 13 million were in the EU (56% diesel). EU automotive turnover was €625 billion in 2009. Profitability has suffered in recent years, reflecting greater competition through new entrants to the market, commodity price increases and shortening model life-cycles.
The EU domestic market is split into western Europe where sales are flat representing mostly replacement vehicles in a mature market, and the newer MS, with greater potential given the lower ratio of vehicles to people.
An analysis covering 14 MS by ACEA based mainly on 2010 data showed that these MS received €375 billion in tax revenue related to motor vehicles covering purchasing, fuel taxes, road tolls, annual running fees etc. Top was Germany with €79.1 billion, followed by Italy with €67.8 billion, France €63.5 billion, the UK €56.6 billion and Spain €27.2 billion.
The industry has a pyramid structure with a relatively small number of car manufacturers, a larger number of suppliers to them and then thousands of small and medium-sized companies involved in sales, after-sales and also supplies.
Be the first to write a comment.