According to Bank Austria, there was a 16.1% drop in production in the 2020 corona year
The Austrian automotive supplier industry survived the crisis year 2020 better than most of the major European car manufacturer countries. According to an industry report published by Bank Austria on Tuesday, the production decline in this country was 16.1 percent, the EU average was 22 percent. Stronger growth is expected for this year, but the domestic industry will not reach the pre-crisis level until 2022.
Bank Austria economist Günter Wolf sees the Austrian motor vehicle industry as well equipped in view of the structural change in the industry – keyword: mandatory CO2 reduction. “Austria's automotive supplier industry should also benefit in the long term from the close relationship, especially with the German premium manufacturers, and protect its very good international competitive position. However, the sector's scope for expansion is narrowing.”
So far, the car manufacturers and suppliers in Austria and Germany have been able to compensate for the very high personnel costs compared to Eastern Europe with strong productivity gains. According to Bank Austria, the Austrian automotive parts manufacturers were even more active. In Germany, value added per employee has increased by 50 percent since 2008, and in Germany by 31 percent. That should be thanks to the high innovation expenditure, so the UniCredit subsidiary bank. The Austrians invested 4.2 percent of the industry's turnover in research and development (R&D), the Germans more than five percent – both significantly more than any other larger manufacturer in Europe.
