Market: Swiss industry in the red again
PARTS MANAGEMENT New car registrations in Switzerland and the Principality of Liechtenstein fell in March. 21,722 new registrations represent a drop of 13.9 percent compared to March 2021 (25,236).
The reason for the sharp decline is a worsening of the parts shortage in vehicle production. After two calendar months of increases, this development has now led to a cumulative decline of four percent (54,227) in the Swiss auto market in the first quarter, compared with 56,497 new registrations from the previous year. The Swiss industry just can't catch a break.
Chronic underuse of microchips
Christoph Wolnik of auto-schweiz, the association of official automotive importers, says: "Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the already tense situation has once again worsened drastically. In addition to the chronic undersupply of microchips, other supplier products have now become scarce commodities. This particularly affects cable harnesses from Ukrainian factories, which now have to be manufactured elsewhere."
Electric drives continue to gain ground
Of the 54,227 new passenger cars that hit the roads of Switzerland and Liechtenstein in the first quarter, one in four was rechargeable via the power grid. The 8820 all-electric vehicles (+86.2% year-on-year) were joined by 4998 plug-in hybrids (+15.8%).
Together with hybrid engines without an external charging option and gas and hydrogen vehicles, alternative drive systems account for half of all new registrations since the beginning of the year.
No effects from the war yet
Christoph Wolnik: "However, the further growth in electric drives is not yet likely to be related to the sharp rise in fuel prices as a result of the Ukraine war. Many of the vehicles registered in March were presumably ordered several months earlier."
