Friday, March 12, 2010

Historic low point for vehicle producers last year

Car making plunged to a 14 year low across Europe last year, according to data from ACEA.
In 2009, total vehicle production in Europe (cars, trucks, buses) decreased by 17.3pc compared to 2008 and by 23pc compared to the pre-crisis level of 2007.
Passenger car production dropped by 13pc to 13.4 million units, or the lowest level in fourteen years. Truck production dropped to a historic low (-64pc).
Passenger car sales fell by 1.3pc 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 25pc, or 3.2 million cars.
These and other data can be found in the latest ACEA Economic Report . The automobile industry’s trade association publishes the Economic Report three times a year, giving additional insight in market trends and automotive production.
As automakers further adapted stocks and output levels to the economic situation, total vehicle production in 2009 fell by 17pc compared to 2008 and 23pc compared to the pre-crisis level of 2007, reaching a total of 15.2 million units.
New passenger car production dropped by 13pc compared to 2008 and by 18pc compared to 2007. The decrease is the steepest recorded since 1993, when car production in the EU fell by 15.1pc. In total, 13.4 million cars were manufactured in 2009, hitting the lowest level since 1996.
The production of passenger cars went up 22.8pc 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 7.6pc.
Production of vans and trucks plunged by 42pc and 64pc 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 62pc in the first quarter, 72pc in the second, 64pc in the third and 56pc in the last. The segment of buses declined by 12pc.