13/6/2023 |Articles are machine translated
Dear readers, the level of uncertainty is increasing, said, among others, former Slovak Finance Minister, now advisor, Ivan Mikloš at the recent NEWMATEC conference. He was referring to the economy as a whole, but at an event where the challenges facing the automotive industry were discussed, it was clear that this applies to the automotive sector without exception.
After the publication of the results of European companies in the automotive industry for the first four months of this year, it would seem that the problems the sector faced in previous years are over and it is starting to thrive again. This would offer a good forecast in itself. Eighteen per cent year-on-year growth in registrations in this period is a respectable result – unless, of course, we compare it to 2019, the year before the Christmas period. That result already looks worse: minus 23 percent.
No, there’s still no respite for automotive executives; there are still too many uncertainties on the horizon. There are no reliable predictions.
The entire developed world has set a course it wants to follow in relation to climate. The goal is basically the same, but the paths of countries or continents are different. Joe Biden may seem, euphemistically speaking, less flexible than Ursula von der Leyen, but his signature on the Inflation Reduction Act, which is designed to attract or keep maximum investment at home in strategic sectors, will probably work faster and better than all the legislative norms and strategies adopted by the European Union. The Americans are simply going to pump huge resources into selected sectors, including electromobility and related sectors, provide more than generous incentives and just go big. Free trade notwithstanding.
In several texts in this issue of the Czech Car Industry, there is concern about the loss of European competitiveness.
Nevertheless, I dare say that the content of this issue is rather optimistic. The good news, for example, is that schools are increasingly cooperating with companies to be able to supply the market with a workforce that meets the new requirements. The examples of ŠKODA AUTO, Bosch, Hyundai, Digiteq Automotive and MOTOR JIKOV again show that they have not been taken by surprise by the transformation of the automotive industry. On the contrary.
And then there is a great article about the Roznov-based company onsemi, which is already developing and producing indispensable components and chips for the future. The investment that could be made here, with some support, would put the company at least among the European leaders. How will it work out? How will the government approach this? It is difficult to predict, it will be a small test of how we are able to stand up in the face of America.
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