2023-07-12 17:21:48
Car manufacturers in Spain recorded net profits of 767 million euros last year, which means reducing the net result by 33%, compared to 1,011 million the previous year and despite having had an increase in turnover of 15 .8%, until reaching revenues of 70,392 million, compared to the 60,908 million invoiced a year earlier. Some data that the sector attributes to the consequences of the pandemic, the problems in the supply chain due to the war in Ukraine, the microchip crisis and the increases in energy costs and raw materials, factors that directly affected to production numbers and the drop in vehicle registrations.
For this reason, the employers’ association of automobile manufacturers based in Spain has asked the new government to leave the polls on the 23rd to design Spanish-style mobility as one of the tools to protect an industry that today accounts for 10% of the Gross Domestic Product and is immersed in a delicate moment in which there is an open war to attract investment. The proposal has been made known at the presentation of the 2022 Report on the automobile manufacturing activity in Spain, in which José López-Tafall, general director of Anfac presented these data along with employment data, which grew by 1% last year, with a total staff dedicated to manufacturing of 62,341 workers. The maintenance of employment is, according to López-Tafall, an “obvious sign of the resistance capacity of the Spanish automobile industry at a delicate moment, marked by the confinement of the pandemic and, later, by the supply crisis, the difficulties in transport, the war in Ukraine and inflation”.
The sector’s trade balance was also positive in 2022, with a positive balance of 16,457 euros, while investment grew by 14.5%, with 1,709 million allocated to industrial transformation oriented towards electrified vehicles and sustainable mobility, issues which are, at this time, “a priority for brands located in Spain”. However, the general director of Anfac recalled that “Spain has not been able to comply in 2022 with the minimum electrification requirements to reach the annual emission reduction milestones”, estimated by the employer at 120,000 sales of new electrified vehicles and a total of 45,000 charging points “Electrification and decarbonization are in the DNA of the sector, but achieving it does not only depend on the effort and leadership of the companies, but also on the level of commitment and the tools that are available from the public sphere and from the entire ecosystem of the new mobility of low and zero emissions. And right now, we’re still behind.”
In this context, the employers demand that the Government form after 23-J “a set of forceful and stable measures” to facilitate the recovery of a market that needs to speed up the sale of electrified vehicles by improving renewal, as well as developing infrastructures publicly accessible recharge as a matter of state. This is where the manufacturers’ proposal regarding the need to design Spanish-style mobility falls into place, “a mobility model that is a country project, based on coherence, that serves the entire territory and that preserves unity of the market, the progress of the sectors and guarantees free mobility for citizens”, they propose from Anfac, who argues that most of the territory is not in low emission zones, so “the solution has to go through the vehicle low-emission private sector. Mobility needs in Cyprus or Luxembourg are not comparable to those of Spain and that is why a Spanish-style mobility model has to be designed”.
The manufacturers also ask the new government to consolidate and make Spain’s role grow as an industrial power in the automobile, since “we have a sector that every country wants to have”, emphasizes López-Tafall, who insists that the country must comply with its environmental commitments, while consolidating the industrial project to attract more investment. Among the requests to the new government are also the urgent need to establish efficient aid plans in which money flows quickly, an effective and accelerated development of recharging infrastructures, be it electric or hydrogen energy, and specific taxation for promote the electrification of the park. They also demand a new Industry Law that gives priority to key sectors and attracts new investments in electrification and decarbonization, the continuity of the Perte plans, better tax treatment for innovation, creating a Moves for the recharging network and a state center to coordinate aid and incentive plans, “because in addition to the national Moves there are 34 other plans for cars and industrial vehicles in the autonomous communities,” criticize the manufacturers.
On the other hand, López-Tafall believes that the “death” of combustion engines can be reached in 2035, but “as long as the enabling conditions are met, including the recharging network, because otherwise it will be necessary to review the objectives. We cannot be the only ones obliged. They do not realize the pace that they have imposed,” he said, alluding to Brussels’ decision to ban the sale of combustion cars from 2035. According to the manager, the situation of the sector, in general, is not good, and “we need to recover a market that should be at 1.2 million registered units”, compared to the 813,396 achieved in 2022. The employers manage a figure of around 950,000 units this year, although in the first semester the figures place the market in a 27% drop compared to last year, which affects the electrification market.
The document presented states that throughout 2022 the tax collection for car fees and taxes stood at 39,177 million euros last year, which represents an increase of 13.2% compared to the 34,148 million euros received. for the public coffers during 2021. The Spaniards paid 4,590 million euros in fees and taxes for the acquisition of new vehicles during 2022, 7.8% more. Of this total, 4,011 million euros corresponded to the payment of VAT, 4.5% more, with 578.9 million euros paid as registration tax (38.4%). For its part, public collection for fuel consumption shot up 18.4% last year, up to 24,248 million euros, while municipalities entered 0.4% more in circulation tax, with 2,972, 9 million euros. The transfer of used vehicles generated a total of 580 million euros in income for public coffers over the past year, a 4.6% year-on-year increase.
The automobile association considers that this 2023 is “a key year” to boost sales of the total market, the entry of the electrified vehicle and establish Spain as an electromobility hub.
The Government defends the arrival of the Peugeot 208
The Minister of Industry, Héctor Gómez, trusts the arrival at the Stellantis plant in Figueruelas (Zaragoza) of the production of the electric version of the Peugeot 208 in the face of pressure from France to get the model manufactured in the country. According to sources from the ministry, the Government’s contact with manufacturers and big brands is “constant” and for Gómez, it is necessary to work discreetly so that this type of project “comes to fruition. We fully trust that the multinational will decide the best location for the sister car Peugeot e-208”, underlined the minister, who has defended that the Zaragoza plant, due to its quality results, energy efficiency, productivity and social climate, is “the most competitive candidate”. Therefore, he hopes to have “the best news shortly” and move them as soon as possible.
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