Survey: Automotive industry sets its sights on the new year
FUTURE Despite Covid-19, the Swiss automotive industry is starting 2021 on an optimistic note, according to the results of an exclusive survey conducted by the Auto Gewerbe Verband Schweiz, in which around 60 decision-makers took part. The industry is emerging with confidence from a 2020 that was and continues to be dominated by the Corona pandemic and the measures taken to contain it. Pessimists are [...]
The industry is emerging with confidence from a 2020 that was, and continues to be, dominated by the Corona pandemic and the measures taken to contain it.
Pessimists are clearly outnumbered
More than 60 percent of respondents expect the coming year to be "rather better" (55.6%) or even "much better" (5.6 %) for their company. When asked about the outlook for the industry as a whole, almost 67 percent of decision-makers in the automotive sector even expect a slight to pronounced recovery.
The pessimists are clearly outnumbered. 160 CEOs of importers, managing directors of suppliers and members of the Swiss Garages Association were contacted personally. One third took part in the anonymous online survey.
Sales forecast of 266,000 new cars
The survey results are in line with the economic forecast published by BAK Economics in November. The forecast assumes a 26 percent decline in new car sales to 232,000 passenger cars in 2020.
For 2021, the BAK economists expect sales of 266,000 new cars. This represents a recovery of 15 percent, but is below the long-term average of around 300,000 new cars per year.
Acclimatization of the society to the situation
The AGVS also wanted to know in why they see 2021 positively. "Society getting used to the situation" (64.8%) and "economic pent-up demand" (59.3%) were the most frequently selected answer options. Only in third place came the hope for a vaccine.
The industry is concerned about politics. More than three quarters of the survey participants feel that they receive too little support from politics. This is one of the reasons why the AGVS is campaigning for a referendum against the new CO2 law.
