The difficulties of the automotive sector are weighing on the German economy, which has been in decline for three months
From the locomotive of one of the most solid economies in the world to the emblem of a sector in difficulty: we are talking aboutGerman automotive industrywhich suffered a production drop of 9%, as reported by the Wiesbaden Statistics Office. A decline such as to affect the entire industrial sector of Germany, which fell by 0.8% in July for the third consecutive month. A drop higher than the initial estimate of -0.5% and destined to settle at around -0.4% at the end of 2023, at least according to the research institute’s forecasts Ifo Institute. There are multiple factors, starting from the increase in energy prices and interest rates, but also from the decline in trade with Germany’s main export markets, starting with China. A situation which in the automotive industry adds to the relocationsconsidering the 5.6 million cars produced in Germany in 2012 compared to 3.6 in 2022.
further relocations?
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The German business newspaper Handelsblatt a few months ago he had raised the alarm on the growing number of vehicles produced abroad by German giants, such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Opel: from 8.6 million cars in 2012 to over 10 million in 2022. Predictions for the future they are not rosy as, in addition to being impossible to return to the volumes of around 6 million vehicles produced on German soil per year, it will also be difficult to maintain a threshold above 4 million. This is because analysts predict further relocations, on the heels of the combined record profit of Volkswagen, BMW and Mercedes-Benz of 49.2 billion euros in 2022. There is some good news: production in Germany should increase again in parallel with the normalization of logistics and supplies, but to remain below 4.2 million vehicles at least until 2027.