EU car registrations up 1,4% year on year, August down 18,3%
In August this year, new passenger car registrations in the EU decreased by 18.3 percent year on year to 643,637 units, according to the European association of car manufacturers ACEA.
In the given month, all four major markets, namely Germany. (-27.8%), France (-24.3%), Italy. (-13.4%) and Spain (-6.5%) posted declines.
In the first eight months of this year, new car registrations grew by 1.4 percent year on year to 7.2 million units.
Spain (+4.5%) and Italy (+3.8%) showed positive but modest performances. On the other hand, the French and the German markets saw their results stagnate (-0.5% and -0.3% respectively).
EU carmakers hammer components suppliers after steel drops
Steel-based automotive components suppliers say they are suffering in ongoing contract negotiations with carmakers, which are exerting their bargaining power to push prices down. This is having an indirect impact on automotive steel pricing talks.
This is a relatively customary scenario, but, in some cases this year, the squeeze for small and medium-sized suppliers is worse than in other years, Kallanish hears from a manager of one European automotive components supplier.
In this year’s negotiations, carmakers have been asking for a price reduction of €80 ($88) per component in comparison with prices one year ago. “This is a pretty bad attitude; we are standing with our backs against the wall already,” the manager says.
Although the contracts cover a full calendar year, negotiations can drag on far after the year has begun, sometimes even until September, meaning prices agreed will be applied retroactively to deliveries already executed. It can therefore happen that by mid-year, talks might be held up. One big German car brand, especially, is staying tough in the talks, the manager says.
These downstream side negotiations scratch against the upstream talks for steel supply from steelmakers, some of which are renewed around mid-year. Meanwhile, mills have mostly given up on their position, now accepting discounts over the last period. For the automotive suppliers, the reduction on the steel supply side for galvanized coil products is heard to be at between €20/tonne and €40/t, according to the manager.
The big carmakers had aimed to secure signatures early on in negotiations for direct steel supplies, and accepted higher prices at an early stage, the manager says. Carmakers are now pressuring automotive component suppliers to compensate for the fact steel prices have softened in the summer, the manager believes.
Christian Koehl Germany
Spain’s automobile sector dips in June
Spain’s car industry saw its performance decline in June, Kallanish notes.
According to national automotive association Asociación Nacional de Fabricantes de Automóviles y Camiones (Anfac), output in June was 218,950 units, compared to 249,515 vehicles in May. This was also 7.1% less than the same month in 2023. Of the total, 75.4% was gasoline and diesel-powered automobiles. Six-month production amounted to 1.33 million units, just 1.1% more compared to January-June last year.
“Despite the decline observed in the last two months, the overall annual rate remains stable and above that of the previous year,” says Anfac general director José López-Tafall.
He however notes there has been a decline in electrical vehicle business due to model changes and production readjustments. “It is a priority for manufacturers to sell more plug-in models, both in Spain and abroad. The end of purchase subsidies in countries like Germany, one of our main export destinations, is causing a sharp drop in demand, which is affecting orders at our factories.”
Spanish vehicle exports fell in June. Shipments were at 186,813 units, compared to 221,354 units in the previous month and 9% lower than in June 2023.
European markets had a 93.5% share in Spanish deliveries in June, unchanged on-month and 2.3 percentage points higher on-year. Six-month exports slipped 0.5% over the same period in 2023 to 1.17 million vehicles, Anfac data show.
Todor Kirkov Bulgaria
ArcelorMittal France tests MPI automotive steel blank line
ArcelorMittal France has inaugurated its Multi Part Integration (MPI) line assembled at its Montataire research centre, a line specifically designed for the production of automotive steel.
This laser ablation and welding facility will test different manufacturing processes and shapes of laser-welded blanks (LWB), also referred to as tailored blanks. It will produce prototypes for ArcelorMittal Tailored Blanks, the steelmaker’s division that supplies laser-welded and unwelded blanks to the automotive industry worldwide. In Europe, it has sites in Belgium, France, Germany, Slovakia, Spain and the UK, Kallanish notes.
The new MPI line caters to the requirements of automakers for simplified assembly and modular design in electric driving. An LWB is a sheet that combines different grades. Each grade can have different thicknesses and coatings. “The separate grades are laser welded together to create a single sheet of steel which has the best grade in the best place for strength and deformation. Each sheet can be hot or cold-stamped to give the part its final shape,” the steelmaker explains in a note. The result is a tailor-made solution employed in automotive manufacturing, specifically for the body-in-white and closures of a vehicle.
The new MPI now being tested at Montataire incorporates press hardened steel (PHS) grade and laser welding technology. This allows for the creation of a component that can be fine-tuned to meet various crash requirements and accommodate different types of motors.
The technology offers numerous benefits, such as reducing the number of structural parts and shaping steps, as well as minimising the surface area of the workshop. It also helps in reducing assembly times and weight, thanks to the utilisation of new-generation steel grades. The new line’s features will allow for the development of new laser welding processes on large blanks, ArcelorMittal concludes.
Natalia Capra France
Semiconductor shortages ease, bottlenecks to remain: Audi
The supply of semiconductors for the automotive industry, including in Germany, will continue to relax in 2023. This will be both in terms of the number of critical semiconductor types and the available quantity, according to German carmaker Audi, part of Volkswagen Group.
“We can see that our operational and strategic measures are having an effect and we assume that the supply situation with semiconductors will continue to ease this year,” a spokesperson of the company tells Kallanish. “However, we still have to assume that there will be significant bottlenecks in automotive-specific semiconductor technologies and in high-voltage semiconductors. The right semiconductors in the right quantities will be the key to future development.”
According to the Audi representative, the entire automotive industry is affected, not just the brands of the Volkswagen Group. “There is currently a structural undersupply of semiconductors across all sectors. This problem will not be solved in the short term, as building semiconductor manufacturing capacity takes several years and costs billions,” she added.
Last week, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) announced it will spend €3.5 billion ($3.8 billion) to build a chip factory in Germany – its first in Europe.
TSMC said it will invest in a subsidiary called European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (ESMC), of which it will own 70%. Germany’s Bosch, Infineon, and the Netherlands’ NXP will each have 10% stakes in the plant, which will make up to 40,000 chips per month. They will be used in cars, for industrial purposes and in products for the home. The plant is expected to open in 2027.
Germany will invest up to €5 billion in the factory in Dresden, capital of the eastern state of Saxony, authorities have announced. “There will be a real semiconductor manufacturing ecosystem in Germany,” said German Economy Minister Robert Habeck.
The European Union (EU) already passed the European Chips Act, a €43 billion subsidy plan aimed at doubling semiconductor manufacturing capacity by 2030.
TSMC has delayed the start of production at its plant in the US state of Arizona due to a shortage of skilled workers. Output of advanced microprocessors at the Arizona plant will begin in 2025, instead of next year.
Svetoslav Abrossimov Bulgaria
SMDI: Steel remains king in automotive supply chain
Advances in steel aimed at reducing vehicles’ average weights and improving their fuel economies will not materially change steel’s path through the supply chain, says Steel Market Development Institute president Lawrence Kavanagh.
Kavanagh says efforts to use more advanced high-strength steels in automobiles won’t keep those cars out of the scrap pipeline longer than the current average of 12 years. He put forward this view during a conference call with journalists hosted by SMDI’s parent organisation the American Iron and Steel Institute.
Mechanical components will continue to fail long before steel auto bodies do, he says.
“Vehicles last a long time because they’re steel,” he tells Kallanish.
Moreover, he says, the institute is seeing the use of advanced high-strength steels grow while alternate materials, like aluminium, merely tread water.
“There continues to be no evidence of a shift in alternate material-intensive vehicles,” he says.
Kallanish
