11/12/2023 |Articles are machine translated
Let’s start with a quote from our big interview, “Europe is terribly slow, it is not action-oriented, we just have a lot of stamps and long processes…” Lukáš Rosůlek from Vitesco speaks about Europe in this way, but in the second interview of the current issue we hear similar words from Zdeněk Zajíček, the head of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, who is talking about the situation in the Czech Republic. He confirms that most of the obstacles encountered by entrepreneurs have been reported to the government for a long time and repeatedly and they have asked for remedies. “Few people are aware of how fast the train is moving and how it is speeding away from us,” says the President of the Chamber. Europe is missing the global train, and we are missing the European train.
Evidence of either European or Czech procrastination, or an example of a misunderstanding of what conditions need to be created, can be seen in the text in the Statistics section. The lead that China has gained, for example, in the production of batteries for electric cars, cannot be made up by Europe even in ten years’ time.
Speaking of China, let us move on. In defence against cheap (non-eco-friendly) production in some non-European countries, the European Commission has approved a regulation to introduce a carbon offset mechanism at borders. The “carbon duty” will be paid by importers, not by producers in third countries. In addition to the added red tape for companies, the prices of commodities that will be burdened by this new charge will rise. It is impossible to know how producers will be induced to produce greener. It will take a few years to see if this instrument proves its worth. But businesses need to prepare now.
And China, for the third time. In October, the European Commission launched an investigation into imports of battery electric vehicles from China. It is trying to find out whether the country is illegally subsidising manufacturers and whether this practice is potentially harming European companies. If this is confirmed, additional duties will be imposed on Chinese products. It is likely that such a move would lead to a reaction from Beijing. The clarity will be clear in November 2024.
The automotive industry has become accustomed to an uncertain future. And this is true not only macroeconomically, but also at the level of the companies themselves. This time too, we bring you insights into companies that are not only coping with the difficult situation, but also have something more. For example, Ferona has installed cutting-edge progressive technology, Tiyo has accelerated its testing processes, JTEKT is targeting production with higher added value, the Bosch development centre in České Budějovice has prestigious projects and BRISK candles are winning in MotoGP.
In this issue we also introduce a new section. It is called Here We Are at Home and will provide examples of corporate social responsibility as applied in the region where they operate. The first story is from Toyota, which contributes millions of crowns to education in Cologne schools and builds children’s enthusiasm for technology.
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