Car Manufacturing Losses Due to the Pandemic

European Automobile Manufacturers' Association (ACEA) has prepared the first assessment on the impact of the coronavirus epidemic. As expected, the restrictions aimed at stopping the infection dealt a drastic blow to the sector. In Hungary, some 50,000 less vehicles were manufactured that originally planned.

So far, the epidemic has caused a total loss of 2.3 million units, meaning that so many vehicles - cars, motorcycles, trucks, buses - had been planned to be produced across Europe, after factories stopped production for an average of 29 days, napi.hu reports.

ACEA estimates that the number of vehicles 'lost' this way is over 600,000 in Germany alone. In Hungary, more than 50,000 cars were not completed.

Not only production shows a drastic decline but sales also: the number of new passenger cars placed on the market in the European Union in March fell by more than half due to the coronavirus epidemic.

ACEA’s Director General Eric-Mark Huitema pointed out that “if we are to return to full-scale production again, automobile manufacturers and suppliers must get their plants up and running in a quick and synchronised manner. That is why we are calling on the EU to support a coordinated re-start of activities and investments right along the supply chain. Measures will also need to be taken to stimulate demand, given that sales have crashed to an all-time low in many key markets.”