Ljubljana, 21 October (STA/APA) - Slovenia's automotive sector, a supplier of components to many car manufacturers, is not in as dire a situation as one would expect based on news from Germany, Tanja Mohorič, director of the Slovenian Automotive Cluster (ASC), said as she presented some statistics on Tuesday.
Mohorič focussed on the ASC's Strategic Research and Innovation Partnership in Mobility (SRIP ACS+), which had 112 companies last year, three more than in 2023, and employed 36,355 workers, up 284.
SRIP ACS+ companies - which span sectors such as component manufacturing, mobility and logistics, vehicle production, support services, consulting, ICT, and R&D - generated a total of EUR 8.08 billion in revenue, up 3%.
Mohorič said the situation in Slovenia's automotive industry is not as dire as some reports might suggest, particularly news about layoffs in Germany.
When companies in Germany, such as Volkswagen, announce job cuts, journalists often turn to the ASC inquiring what that means for the domestic industry and how many companies might go under, she said.
"None will go under, because the German market accounts for roughly 40% of our companies' sales, and the share is declining. In this share, Volkswagen's is significantly smaller," she explained.
When major lay-offs were announced in Germany last year, SRIP ACS+ asked its members how that would impact sales in 2024 compared to 2023.
Nine companies provided their answers, showing sales to Volkswagen would drop by around EUR 100,000, while sales on the German market as a whole would increase by some EUR 1 million and sales on other markets even more, said Mohorič.
She said that due to the uncertainty on the Germany market their members are looking for new markets, being in talks with Chinese and Japanese companies that invest in production in Europe. Mohorič said that Slovenian embassies are of great help there.
She also said that to keep the sector competitive, market diversification should go hand in hand with investment in development and optimisation of production, automation, digital transformation, and introduction of AI.
State subsidies also play a key role, enabling companies to get to better solutions more quickly.
According to government projections, the GREMO Mission project (GREen MObility) is set to receive up to EUR 200 million in public funds. So far EUR 50 million has been disbursed, Mohorič said.
The Slovenian Automotive Cluster (ASC) was established in 2001 and currently has 60 members.
