A new era for car makers and component suppliers is about to begin in Europe, a new organisation has claimed.
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The European Automotive Strategy Network (EASN) is being created to assess, assist, improve and promote component suppliers in member states.
Under the former umbrella of the Network of European Automotive Competence there was in-depth research of 11 key automotive regions in Europe. It looked at regional financial support, projections for the future, workflow and future scenarios.
NEAC has created a database or library of knowledge for the industry to use and it is putting finishing touches to a ‘live’ map of the regions to help future investors and researchers.
After three years of study and information gathering, NEAC’s final report was given to industrialists this week in a meeting part hosted by the Welsh Automotive Forum outside Cardiff.
The study showed variations in assistance, abilities and opportunities which will now be taken up by the EASN.
One of the leading strategy developers behind EASN, Kishor Pala, of Advantage West Midlands Accelerate programme, said there were expected to be 50 partners from 13 member states but it could rapidly grow.
He said, “EASN wants to improve competitiveness, encourage collaboration among regional, national and EC policy makers and contribute to the development and design of stable instruments or funding for the industry.”
Pala said the work to date had identified a need to improve skills, assist clusters and work on alternative fuel and powertrain development.
Because it is a rolling programme, the areas for future study will organically evolve in response to what is needed to make the regions world-class competitors, he added.
It is expected the EASN programme will need EUR1.1m a year.
WAF chairman Garel Rhys, who hosted the meeting, said there was no truth in the belief that the automotive industry was dead and uncompetitive in Europe, but it had to evolve to meet new and changing market situations.
“The industry is a conservative one because no-one wants to make a car which people don’t want to buy and the customer is conservative because he or she doesn’t want to buy a car which they will not be able to sell in a few years.”
Rhys said that Europe’s three most efficient car plants are in the UK and making models which people want to buy in huge numbers, so much of their production is exported.
He said that contrary to popular belief there was a growing demand for cars, not a diminishing one, and over the next 20 years more new cars will be made than in the entire 110 years of the industry to date. There will be a need for 180 new car plants, typically making 330,000 cars annually and plants will need to be renewed, retooled, refurbished or replaced with investment likely to exceed $80 trillion.
“The automotive industry is still expanding and it’s an exciting place to work for student designers and engineers,” he added.
Rhys said the work of NEAC and proposals for EASN demonstrated how the industry was changing to reflect demand and attract investment from around the world and said he was very encouraged by the prospects for the new body.
