The plight of Europe’s automotive sector — and its impact on the economy and jobs — has become a hot political topic.
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00:00Is Europe's car industry in crisis?
00:08Elected officials are raising the alarm over a slowdown in the production of cars and electric cars in Europe.
00:23There has been a steep decline in European car production in recent years.
00:27New EU car registrations fell progressively between 2019 and 2022,
00:34before bouncing back in 2023 when 10.5 million new cars were produced.
00:41But that's still lower than the 13 million produced in 2019 when the industry hit its peak.
00:48While there are signs the sector could grow marginally again this year,
00:52the plummeting market share of battery electric cars considered the sector's future is prompting concern.
01:00In August 2024, registrations of electric cars dropped by 43.9% compared to the same month in 2023,
01:10driven by an astonishing 68.8% decline in Germany.
01:16But NGO Transport and Environment says this stagnation is to be expected
01:21and that the EU's EV sector will grow again once the EU's CO2 emission performance standards kick in in 2025.
01:29Today the targets have been the same as in the previous years,
01:32so there is no incentive for carmakers to sell more electric cars.
01:36However, this will change radically next year as there are new targets coming in
01:41and carmakers will need to prioritise selling electric cars.
01:45Experts say that EV production in Germany is already picking up,
01:49signalling a potential upward trend for the whole of the EU in 2025.
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