Why leave Europe's car market? So many reasons.
Crowded market, regulations make for brutal competition
February 18, 2017
Christiaan Hetzner
AutoNews.com
FRANKFURT -- Why is General Motors looking for a way out of Europe?
That's easy. While home to many of the oldest and most venerable car brands in the world, Europe also may be the most brutally competitive and demanding market, with a complicated patchwork of regulations under which a host of American, European and Asian brands do battle.
Thanks to the effects of the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, volumes in Europe remain roughly 1 million vehicles off the 2007 pre-crisis peaks. Growth essentially comes solely from replacement demand as population growth in the region is largely stagnant and vehicle ownership rates remain unchanged.
With fewer cars sold in the past decade, industry overcapacity became a bigger and bigger problem. Former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson famously said five years ago that Europe had anywhere between seven to 10 car plants too many. Since then, just three have been shut: Ford's factory in Genk, Belgium, PSA's assembly lines in Aulnay, France, and GM's own Zafira MPV site in Bochum, Germany.
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Crowded market, regulations make for brutal competition
February 18, 2017
Christiaan Hetzner
AutoNews.com
FRANKFURT -- Why is General Motors looking for a way out of Europe?
That's easy. While home to many of the oldest and most venerable car brands in the world, Europe also may be the most brutally competitive and demanding market, with a complicated patchwork of regulations under which a host of American, European and Asian brands do battle.
Thanks to the effects of the ongoing eurozone debt crisis, volumes in Europe remain roughly 1 million vehicles off the 2007 pre-crisis peaks. Growth essentially comes solely from replacement demand as population growth in the region is largely stagnant and vehicle ownership rates remain unchanged.
With fewer cars sold in the past decade, industry overcapacity became a bigger and bigger problem. Former General Motors CEO Dan Akerson famously said five years ago that Europe had anywhere between seven to 10 car plants too many. Since then, just three have been shut: Ford's factory in Genk, Belgium, PSA's assembly lines in Aulnay, France, and GM's own Zafira MPV site in Bochum, Germany.
CONTINUE AT LINK ABOVE