Image: (Bosch)
An automotive supplier study by the international strategy consultant PwC delivers unsatisfactory results: According to this, the largest German automotive suppliers are falling behind in international competition. Worrying from an Austrian point of view: a number of these industry giants have some important locations in Austria. The 15 largest suppliers in Germany, Austria and Switzerland were examined.
According to the study, suppliers such as Bosch, ZF, Schäffler, Benteler, Knorr- Bremse and Co only achieved sales growth of 13 percent in the previous year. This puts them far behind the rest of Europe, which was happy about a total sales increase of 21 percent. In Asia and America, sales growth was 23 and 25 percent, respectively.
In terms of profitability, they also ended up behind their competitors with a 3.9 percent margin in the operating result (EBIT). Since 2019, German suppliers have lost 2.7 percentage points of world market share – that would be as much as they had laboriously gained in 20 years, writes the strategy subsidiary of PwC.
Globally, the supplier industry managed to reverse the trend last year: At least in terms of sales, it was possible to catch up with the time before Corona. However, Asian suppliers are increasingly entering the market, PwC speaks of “enormous innovation and investment advantages in the field of electromobility”.
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