Thursday, December 02, 2021
Suppliers in particular complain
The mood in the auto industry is deteriorating
The mood among German car manufacturers is still depressed. According to the Ifo indicator, suppliers in particular assess their situation poorly. But exports and the slowly easing chip crisis give rise to hope.
The situation of the German auto industry, plagued by delivery bottlenecks, deteriorated in November. The corresponding indicator fell to 9.6 points in November after 17.4 in October, as the Munich-based Ifo Institute announced in its monthly company survey. The downward trend is mainly due to the situation of the suppliers. “The suppliers rate their situation significantly worse than the manufacturers,” said Ifo expert Oliver Falck. The barometer for suppliers alone has fallen to minus 23.0 points.
The manufacturers’ business is still going very well, even if the corresponding situation indicator fell slightly from 41.4 to 38.4 points. “The impulses come primarily from foreign sales markets,” said Falck. The export barometer climbed significantly from 33.8 to 52.5 points. The production prospects are assessed as excellent. “However, all manufacturers continued to complain about delivery bottlenecks,” said Falck. The producers hardly want to cut staff, but neither do they want to hire new ones.
“Have the worst behind us”
The order situation for suppliers remains tense. No impetus is expected from the export business either: This index fell to 0.5 points, after 2.4 in October. The production prospects remain subdued. “In order to cope with the upheaval towards electromobility, suppliers have to develop new skills and are therefore still looking for new staff,” explains Falck.
A shortage of semiconductors has been troubling car manufacturers for months, which is why production is paralyzed despite well-filled order books. The supply of the indispensable microchips is now slowly relaxing. “We have the worst behind us,” said Volkswagen boss Herbert Diess this week. “We’re seeing a slight increase in production volume.” The prospects for the coming year also brightened somewhat.