The owner of brands such as Peugeot, Citroën or Opel – Stellantis – informed about temporary suspension of production in several European plants, including Poland. In the factory in Tychy, some employees have already been sent on forced holidays, and production lines were suspended for several days. At the same time, Bosch, the largest global supplier of the automotive parts, announced a reduction in employment of approx. 13 thousand. jobs, citing weaker demand and the need to adapt operational structures.
– According to the latest data of the European Association of Manufacturers of the Automotive parts Calepa from the industry, 54,000 disappeared last year. positions, a This year, another tens of thousands of jobs will be liquidated – told PAP Tomasz Bęben, president of the Association of Distributors and producers of the automotive parts (SDCM) and a member of the Management Board of Clep.
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The expert explained that difficulties in the automotive industry result not only from a momentary drop in demand. According to him, this First of all, the growing problem of the competitiveness of European car brandswhich negatively affect the growing costs of energy, work and more and more restrictive regulations of the European Union.
– European companies must simultaneously invest billions in electrification, as well as maintain existing production lines. Instead of a common industrial plan, we have fragmentary actions and more and more restrictive regulations. As a result, European factories produce below their power, costs are still rising, and investments in new technologies for financial reasons must be postponed for later, which further worsens the situation – he emphasized.
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Poland feels European problems
Tomasz Bęben pointed out that the problems of the European automotive industry affect the Polish automotive parts sector.
– Poland is one of the largest exporters of parts and components in Europe. Meanwhile, every downtime in car factories means a decrease in orders from suppliers. In turn, they must then limit cooperation with their cooperators, which creates the domino effect He noted.
The drum pointed out that the latest Calepa research prepared on the basis of data from over 100 European companies clearly show the progressive loss of European competitiveness as the place of production of car parts and components. In the case of internal combustion cars, the value of components from European factories is 83 percent. In electric vehicles, this share drops to 70 percent. In the case of key components for automated cars and remotely connected, this value is even smaller.
Another 300,000 jobs
– Suppliers from outside the EU are more and more aggressive. Clep's research shows that if this trend persists, up to 24 percent can leak out within five years outside Europe. value added in the production of an average car. This means a threat of 300–350 thousand. jobs in the parts sector – he emphasized.
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In the opinion of Calepa and SDCM, in order to prevent this, it is necessary to reduce the structural costs: energy, work, raw materials, as well as simplify the regulation. European industry also needs the support of investment in new technologies, especially in batteries, electronics and software, i.e. areas in which Europe remains behind.
– Instead of imposing penalties and subsequent burdens on the industry, a pro -tender policy modeled on the USA or China is necessary, consisting of operational subsidies, support for investment outlays and active attraction of investments. If the EU does not start pursuing a policy that increases competitiveness and protecting its own production, the European automotive industry will lose not only work places on a massive scale, but also key competences. And then the defeat with China will become a fact – said Tomasz Bęben.
