Memo: Meeting with Ministers on the Situation in the Automotive Sector Brussels, 16 January 2009 – Conclusions of the Chairman Günter Verheugen, Vice-President of the European Commission

The discussions confirmed the critical importance Ministers attach to the future of the automotive industry. They expressed deep concern about the serious situation that the sector is facing at present, putting at risk a very significant number of jobs. In 2008 there were about 8% fewer cars sold in the EU than in 2007. The worsening trend over the last months suggests that things will get worse in 2009 with another 10%-20% fall in sales. The projected figures for heavy-duty vehicles are even worse with industry projecting decreases of about 30%. The whole automotive value chain is already affected by the crisis and the impact is likely to be particularly painful for automotive suppliers, especially smaller suppliers.