The car market in Europe recorded a decline of 25.2% compared to 2020 and 24.3% compared to 2019 in September 2021. west remained unchanged over the past 30 years and with the growth of the economy in the east, the result of the auto market has never been lower since 1995. This means that we are in a very particular historical moment, above all for two reasons not linked to the quality of the products on sale or to the overall level of well-being of the populations.
Covid-19 and the semiconductor crisis heavily affected sales in the year 2021. The pandemic has generated economic uncertainty, and it is understandable that families do not want to commit to the purchase of an expensive commodity such as a car. While the missing microchips undermine the patience of those who would like to buy the new ‘car’, with dealers forced to say that the cars are not ready. Justifiable, for potential customers, to prefer a ‘no’ if the desired car is missing, at the cost of keeping the old one for a while longer. Many motorists have chosen to purchase second-hand vehicles.
A market in crisis also means components in crisis. And to put everything in a less optimistic perspective is the electrical transition. Battery-only cars will need less ‘mechanics’, with the industry shrinking. “The components sector risks being subjected to the transition due to several factors: on the one hand there is the management of electrification which in the near future will lead to a profound reconfiguration of the structure of many companies, especially those that today work on components. related to the heat engine; on the other hand there are the shortage of semiconductors and the increase in the prices of raw materials used in the production of components. Recent analyzes tell us that in 2021 eight to ten million vehicles will be lost due to the shortage of semiconductors, with an impact on global turnover of 200 billion euros. Even our components will lose its percentage and our companies will only be able to suffer production breaks, creating a deleterious stop and go.“, Reports Il Sole 24 Ore.