The European automotive industry is experiencing a deep crisis – the industry alerts

The European automotive industry is experiencing a deep crisis – instead of new investments, there is a wave of closing of plants and transferring production outside the European Union, and subsequent companies announce group release – alerts the Association of Distributors and producers of automotive parts (SDCM).

SDCM, citing the data of the European Confederation of Trade Unions, announced that on average 500 jobs a day, mainly in industry, disappear in Europe, and the automotive sector is in the center of this phenomenon. High energy costs, growing wages and regulatory loads mean that even modern factories become unprofitable.

In Poland, where energy comes mainly from coal, the cost of CO2 emissions is already responsible for 60-70 percent. electricity prices. The ETS system raised the price of emission rights to nearly 100 euros per ton, while in 2015 it was almost zero. At the same time, labor costs in the country increased in the second quarter of 2024 by almost 13 percent, more than twice as much as the EU average.

“What we observe in the automotive industry is not temporary turbulence, but a structural crack. Europe ceases to be an attractive place to conduct industrial production-and despite excellent competences, know-how and infrastructure. On the one hand, we have ambitious climatic goals, and on the other hand, and there is no effective industrial protection mechanisms, but we need real regulation. cheaper energy, simplification of regulations, support for investments.

According to the EU Investment Association, the EU fell drastically – from EUR 7.7 billion in 2022 to EUR 218 million in 2025, most of which come from China. At the same time, as SDCM indicated, the EU's share in the global export of investments fell from 34 to 10 percent, and China increased their share from 16 to 49 percent.

An example of the outflow of capital is the decision of Intel to give up billion investments in semiconductor factories in Germany and Poland – the production is to be transferred to Vietnam and Malaysia. (PAP)

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