ACEA

Car production in 2009 at lowest level since 1996

In 2009, total vehicle production in Europe (cars, trucks, buses) decreased by 17.3% compared to 2008 and by 23% compared to the pre-crisis level of 2007.

Passenger car production dropped by 13% to 13.4 million units, or the lowest level in fourteen years. Truck production dropped to a historic low (-64%).Passenger car sales fell by 1.3% in 2009, with demand supported by fleet renewal schemes in 13 EU countries.

The market share of vehicles emitting less than 120 gCO2/km rose to 25%*, or 3.2 million cars.

These and other data can be found in the latest ACEA Economic Report and here . The automobile industry’s trade association publishes the Economic Report three times a year, giving additional insight in market trends and automotive production.

Vehicle production

As automakers further adapted stocks and output levels to the economic situation, total vehicle production in 2009 fell by 17% compared to 2008 and 23% compared to the pre-crisis level of 2007, reaching a total of 15.2 million units.

New passenger car production dropped by 13% compared to 2008 and by 18% compared to 2007. The decrease is the steepest recorded since 1993, when car production in the EU fell by 15.1%. In total, 13.4 million cars were manufactured in 2009, hitting the lowest level since 1996.

The production of passenger cars went up 22.8% in the fourth quarter compared with the low level recorded in the last quarter of 2008. When compared with the pre-crisis level of the fourth quarter of 2007, car production dropped by 7.6%.

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Germany remained by far the largest vehicle producer (5.2 million units) in the EU, despite a 13.8% decrease. Following a 20.2% drop, France fell to third rank while Spain (-14.6%), with 2.2 million vehicles, became the second largest manufacturing country in 2009. The UK (-33.9%) once again ranked fourth with more than 1 million units. Italy fell to seventh place, after the Czech Republic and Poland which accounted for 974,569 and 879,186 vehicles respectively. The Czech Republic and Slovenia were the only countries to see their total production increase, by 3.0% and 7.5% respectively. The steepest fall was recorded in Austria (-52.6%).

Production of vans and trucks plunged by 42% and 64% respectively. While the downturn somewhat eased in the last quarter of the year in the segment of van production, the continuing decrease severely hit truck production throughout the four quarters. Production of trucks was down 62% in the first quarter, 72% in the second, 64% in the third and 56% in the last. The segment of buses declined by 12%.

Demand: passenger cars

Over the whole year 2009, EU passenger car demand was 1.3% lower than in 2008, and 9.3% lower than before the crisis in 2007. Following a marked decline in the second half of 2008 and first half of 2009, EU new car registrations picked up in the second half of last year, reflecting the cautious upturn in the overall European economy as well as the impact of fleet renewal schemes implemented in 13 EU Member States.

In total, 14.1 million new cars were registered in the EU in 2009. Besides Slovakia (+6.7%) and the Czech Republic (+12.5%), only Austria (+8.8%), France (+10.7%), and Germany (+23.2%) posted growth compared to 2008, with results lifted by scrapping incentives. Results were cushioned for similar reasons in Italy (-0.2%), the UK (-6.4%) and Spain (-17.9%).

Demand for cars emitting less than 120gCO₂/km up 59%*

The market share of small cars* (segments A and B) rose from 38.8% in 2008 to 45% in 2009. The small segment was the only one to increase over the course of the year. Demand for cars emitting less than 120gCO₂/km recorded the strongest increase ever, amounting to 3.2 million units in 2009, or 1.2 million more than in 2008. This segment now holds a market share of 25%.

The market share of diesel cars* went down from 52.7% to 45.9%. The average engine size* decreased to 1,625 cm³, or the smallest average size recorded since 1991 in Western Europe. Average engine power* also decreased.

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click on picture for enlarged view

Demand: commercial vehicles

Registrations of new commercial vehicles dropped by 32.6% (or 37.5% compared to 2007) in 2009, composed of a 30.5% decrease in vans and a 44.2% decrease in trucks.

While car sales were sustained by Government incentive measures across the EU…

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…the truck industry harshly and directly suffered from the crisis.

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Forecasts

While forecasts remain difficult to make, it is clear that 2010 will again be a very challenging year for the industry, as the overall economy has not recovered yet. Passenger car sales are expected to go down, most notably in countries where fleet renewal schemes have ended. Commercial vehicle registrations in the EU are expected to be flat at best, after a drop of 32% in 2009.

Given the dimension and length of the economic downturn, pressure on automotive employment is mounting. Manufacturers have and will continue to take numerous measures to cut costs as well as to keep their skilled workforce and maintain investments in R&D, to emerge from the crisis in a sustainable, competitive way.

In the EU, 2.2 million workers are directly employed in automotive manufacturing, and an additional 9.8 million rely on the industry for their jobs in closely related sectors. The effect on employment in the wider economy is even greater.

• ACEA Economic Report - full year 2009
• Past Economic Reports

*based on AAA data in 2009 for the EU15

last updated 11/03/2010

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