The European Federation of Autologistics ECG held its general meeting in Portugal last weekend. During the event, the many challenges with which the car industry and the companies that transport finished vehicles are confronted are listed.
The general context is gloomy: the car sales falls, the occupancy rate of the European factories, and the slumbering trade war between Europe and the US is just an extra challenge on top of the challenges that the globalization of the economy already entails. Justin Cox, director at Globaldata, has indicated, for example, that logistics service providers should adapt to the loss of 5 million cars in production. Specialized carriers must also adapt to increasing digitization and at the same time continue their efforts in the field of decarbonization.
On the other hand, the rates war between Europe and the United States does not seem to have a great impact on European car manufacturers, if we can believe Professor Alexander Sandkamp of the Kiel Institute for the World Economy: “The intra-EU trading absorbs more than 60 % of the European United States. Internal trade barriers, in particular in the field of services, to guarantee a high and constant quality of its transport infrastructure and to supervise new legislation, such as the Sustainability Due Diligence Directive (CSDDD) this would help to reduce the dependence on the United States. ”
In this difficult context, companies must strengthen their trade relations with other partners. “We are not allowed to remain trapped in a European way of thinking. The challenges that our industry stands for are global and our answers must be. The ECG positions itself as a motorcycle for connected cooperation between continents,” said Wolfgang Göbel, chairman of the ECG. Incidentally, the association has concluded a strategic cooperation agreement with Cala, the Chinese Association for Autologistics, to promote efficiency, quality and best practices in the sector.
