Riberas (Sernauto): "Europe has goodwill, but it is slow with electrification"

“Europe has good will, but it lacks speed” when it comes to supporting the automobile industry, according to Francisco Riberas, president of Sernauto, the employers' association for auto component manufacturers. “There is talk of strategic sovereignty in elements such as batteries, materials or their refining, but it is going more slowly even than the US, which thanks to the IRA law has attracted two battery plants that were going to go to the Old Continent” added the also president by Gestamp. Because, clearly, China is ahead in aspects such as electrification technology or charging infrastructure; and it is at the same time that it manufactures cars with an increasingly higher quality.

“They have not wasted time,” said Riberas, and neither can the industry he represents, which implies large investments in electrification in a context marked by political demands, tight margins, rising costs and the impact of inflation. In fact, more than the sales volumes, it was these last two factors that drove the turnover of the Spanish auxiliary industry to 37,668 million euros in 2022, 17.4% more than a year earlier.. Of that figure, almost 61% corresponded to exports, with 22,669 million, representing a record turnover.

6,500 million in R+D+i

Last year, the component sector invested almost 12% more (1,520 million euros) in productive capacities, while spending on R&D+i reached 1,231 million, 3.3% of total turnover and the triple the industry average. In the last five years, the volume spent on adapting to the technological and digital transformation has already reached 6,500 million euros.

“They are investments that must be made now or you don't make them. They are the ones that will define the future of the next 10 years and we cannot miss that train” added Ribera, for whom public-private collaboration is necessary “more than ever”.

The PERTE VEC, between July and September

The best example of this is the PERTE of the electric and connected car, whose second call will open on July 1 for battery factory projects to be presented.. “We make a positive reading of the efforts that the Government is making,” said José Portilla, general director of Sernauto, on this matter, although it may be that the second line referring to projects in the value chain, which may now be individual, “will be go to september”.

In principle, the change that this process will entail towards electrification will have an impact on employment due to the impact that the ban on selling cars with combustion engines will have since 2035 in Europe; or the impact of fewer components and less manpower required by battery-powered vehicles. “But the world does not end in Europe, it will be possible to continue selling in other markets and jobs will also be created with the new profiles that will emerge. And the path that e-fuels have remains to be seen,” said Portilla.

Employment in the sector

In 2022, the auxiliary industry employed 329,950 people, with 203,000 direct jobs, and for this year it is expected to increase by 1% precisely due to the need to incorporate more qualified and technological profiles. As for billing, the forecast is for it to grow by around 6%, although Riberas recalled that some positive data that the market is giving, with significant increases in registrations, “are a mirage given the poor level of the first semester of the last year”.