In this post, we look at several areas of the auto industry that will undergo changes in the coming year.
Economy
Global crisis in the auto industry
In the past few months, it has become known that the largest car companies are resorting to serious savings, staff cuts and plant closures.
For example, it is reported that Nissan cut 6% of its workforce in the September quarter. Director Makodo Uchita also spoke about reducing the salaries of the company's management.
Audi's profits fell to record lows. The company reduced its revenue by 91%. The terrifying changes are calculated in the annual period of the 3rd quarter of 2023-2024. The German automobile concern is going to lay off about 4.5 thousand workers.
The profit level of another company decreased similarly.
companies from Germany — BMW lost 16% compared to the previous year 2023. The concern reduced production volume to 541 thousand units.
Stellantis Corporation (an Italian-American company uniting Fiat-Chrysler and Peugeot-Citroen) is undergoing changes — the company's shares fell by 41%, revenue fell to €33 billion, sales decreased by 20%.
Strikes in Germany
One of the actions took place in Osnabrück, where the company located in the greatest risk zone is located. The event, organized by the IG Metall trade union, was attended by 250 people. They were joined by workers from BMW and the largest German auto components manufacturer Bosch, which is also experiencing difficulties due to declining demand for its products.
In the face of Volkswagen management's decision to close at least three factories in Germany and cut tens of thousands of jobs, employees of the German automobile concern organized a series of strikes.
Thus, it is worth drawing the following conclusions. European brands will seriously compete with Chinese manufacturers. Car sales in Europe will be significantly reduced.
Industry
The decline in sales of foreign car brands in China is due to the growing interest of local residents in the products of national manufacturers. This is especially observed in the electric vehicle market, for the development and production of which the Chinese government is actively providing financial support.
So in 2024, China allocated $230 billion. It is noteworthy that this amount does not include information about the assistance provided to local affiliates that have invested heavily in companies involved in the production of electric vehicles. Battery production data is also not considered. CATL, a leading battery maker with about a third of the global market, reportedly earned $809 million last year.
China is one of the largest industrial centers in the world; many European cars are also produced in the country, which certainly affects the industrial and economic scale of the entire automotive world.