The European car industry slid into a recession for the last six quarters - EUROFER
European steel Association EUROFER in the market overview became the EU in 2020-2021, he said that the automotive sector in Europe today is experiencing the worst downturn since the crisis in the Eurozone 2009-2012 it is noted that the crisis in the automotive industry began long before the outbreak COVID-19 led to an almost complete halt of production in the car factories of the EU in March and April of this year.
Weak domestic and export demand associated with the uncertainty in trade, the problem of emissions, a change in the structure of ownership and the range is strongly affected manufacturing activity in 2019. In the fourth quarter, the annual decline in production increased compared to the previous quarter, which led to a drop by 8.5% as a result of decrease of 6.9% in 2019.
In the first quarter of 2020 passenger car sales in EU fell by 25.6%. In particular, March was the first month when the impact of the pandemic COVID-19 on the market became obvious: there was a sharp drop (minus 55.1 per cent). During the same quarter in sales of new commercial vehicles fell by 23.2%, and in March 2020, the demand for new commercial vehicles in EU fell by 47.3%.
Manufacturing activity in the automotive industry, the EU fell at an annual rate declined for a sixth consecutive quarter, by 8.5% in the fourth quarter of 2019 (after minus 3.6% in the third quarter). The weakening of demand for new passenger cars in Europe and in key export markets such as the US, China and Turkey, combined with the uncertainty and changes in the commercial model had a negative impact on manufacturing activity in most EU countries. Production in Germany, Italy, and especially in the UK recorded a serious decline. In General, the volume of production fell by 6.9% in 2019.
vehicle Exports to third countries continued to lose ground in the fourth quarter of 2019 in connection with the permanent weakening of demand in key global markets. This led to the fact that the export of German and British car production fell by double digits during 2019.
not to be restored if normal business conditions during 2020 when they will be restored. However, if we assume that, since the third quarter of normal business conditions will start to return to the markets, it will take time before new orders are converted to the new delivery. In addition, it is expected that the demand for new cars by consumers will remain very weak, at least as long as the improved macroeconomic picture and the real income of consumers. This is another source of uncertainty.
in addition, risks related to international trade remain significant, with the possible disputes with the U.S. over tariffs on EU cars and automotive parts and components, which still dominate the industry. This will continue to exert influence on Germany and much of the industry in Central Europe, which has extensive trade ties with the US market and tightly integrated into European supply chains of the car.