Concern in the industry due to OEM stoppages and energy prices

October’s edition of TOP Management Meeting visualized that the industry has to deal with many external issues that are considerably threatening the recovery of the Catalan automotive industry.

Two of these issues were the central focus of the discussion during the meeting held on October 14: manufacturer stoppages and energy prices. Regarding the first, some suppliers demanded more fluid information from automakers, in order to improve their own planning, and to not find out about order cancellations at the last moment. Some of the manufacturers in attendance said that they are not able to plan for longer than seven days.

The discussion around the exponential growth of energy prices featured instances where suppliers have seen their energy contracts unilaterally canceled by their power companies. Other automotive companies have been forced to change their shifts to adapt to time slots when energy prices are lower.

Besides those examples, the companies at the meeting all agreed the fast rise in energy prices is eating into their margins.

Forty managers and chairmen of the automotive industry were present at the meeting, which also presented some new projects. The attendants were also reminded that the Automotive Talent Show will be held on October 19th at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.