According to the Economic and Steel Market Outlook 2021-2022/Q3 2021 Report from the Economic Committee of the European Steel Association (EUROFER), automotive output in the EU rose by 2.8 percent in the first quarter this year, reflecting the faster-than-expected rebound.
As a result of the pandemic-related lockdowns, automotive output in the second quarter of 2020 saw an unprecedented fall in output by 52.4 percent due to an almost complete stop in production in some EU countries. In the third quarter last year, automotive output saw a considerable quarterly rebound, but decreased by 11.2 percent year on year. Quarterly growth was also seen in the fourth quarter, which resulted also in a year-on-year growth of two percent.
In the first quarter this year, passenger car registrations increased by 3.2 percent year on year, amid the low levels recorded in March 2020 when the worst effects of the pandemic started to be felt and both plants and dealerships were temporarily closed.
According to the latest data, in June this year passenger car registrations increased by 10.4 percent after a 53.4 percent rise recorded in May. However, car sales are still far below the 1.2 million units that were sold in May 2019.
According to the EUROFER report, the huge disruption in the supply chain even after the end of lockdowns and blockages in transport across EU countries continued to make it difficult to ensure the supply of materials and components to the industry in the first quarter this year.
EUROFER expects automotive output in the EU to rebound by 15.3 percent in 2021, followed by a 7.9 percent rise in 2022.