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the european auto industry is experiencing an avalanche.

in germany, a major center of europe's automobile industry, the german automobile market fell by 27.8% in august, with sales of pure electric vehicles plummeting by 68.8%.

in august, new car sales in the french market fell 24.3% year-on-year. in the first eight months of this year, the market share of electric vehicles in france was 16.8%, which is higher than the overall level of the eu, but lower than 18% at the end of march. this shows that the share of electric vehicles in france has been declining month by month since the second quarter.

in italy, europe's third-largest car market, new car sales fell 13.37% year-on-year in august.

in sweden, another country with a high penetration rate of new energy vehicles, the overall market sales have fallen by 14,118 vehicles since the beginning of the year. this is all due to the decline in bev sales, and there seems to be no sign of relief at present.

looking at the overall market performance, the share of electric vehicles in total european car sales fell to 13.6% last month, down from 14.5% in the same period last year. even tesla, a leader in electric vehicles, saw its sales in europe fall by 12% from january to july this year.

at the same time, sales of fuel vehicles fell by 8.4% and sales of diesel vehicles fell by 11%, showing that the traditional fuel vehicle market is also experiencing transformation pressure.

generally speaking, the reason behind the decline in sales is that the economic recovery is not as strong as expected, and consumers' confidence in car purchases is constrained; from a micro perspective, the sluggish growth of pure electric vehicles is the biggest factor dragging down the broader market.

after looking at the market, let’s look at the industry.

the roots of european cars are in germany, and the core of germany is volkswagen. but volkswagen may be experiencing a century-long crisis.

for the first time since its founding in 1937, volkswagen announced the closure of its factories in germany and attempted to terminate its employment protection agreement with the union.

the severity of the problem was revealed, with high costs, sluggish demand and difficult-to-solve software problems forcing volkswagen to make the most difficult decisions. from parts factories to nearby bakeries and even cleaners, the impact was felt.

closing the factory means that thousands of jobs will be lost, which will deal a heavy blow to the german working class. closing a factory with 3,000 employees is far more complicated than laying off 3,000 employees. it involves the economic impact of the city of brussels and even touches the economic nerves of the entire country. at the end of october, the union representing the interests of the workers will negotiate with the volkswagen group, and more than 500,000 workers may participate in the strike.

in addition to macro-environmental factors, the gap between volkswagen's global production capacity and actual sales, coupled with the huge investment in electrification transformation, have forced volkswagen to re-examine its production layout and strategic planning and make the decision to "cut off the arm of a hero."

stellantis group, the pride of italy and the second largest automobile manufacturer in europe, cannot even save italy’s own automobile industry, let alone support europe.

according to the financial report disclosed by stellantis, its net revenue in the first half of 2024 was 85.02 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 14%; its net profit was 5.65 billion euros, a year-on-year decrease of 48%, and its performance was significantly lower than market expectations.

the "cost reduction master" tang weishi has come up with a combination of measures, not only laying off employees, but also considering arranging a "way out" for its italian brands. although tang weishi did not "name names" and point out which brands are at risk of being shut down or "shelved", he also admitted that "the group can no longer afford those unprofitable brands."

in the past two months, there have been rumors in the industry that some italian luxury brands are looking for chinese buyers and seem to have actually reached the feasibility stage. the italian government has also called on chinese car companies to build factories in italy to boost the development of the local industry.

european brands such as mercedes-benz, bmw, and volvo are also feeling the pressure of the electrification transformation. although they have not closed factories like volkswagen or sold their brands like stellantis, they have announced the postponement or cancellation of their original electrification goals.

the former auto parts giants are also laying off employees and filing for bankruptcy. zf laid off 11,000-14,000 employees, continental laid off 7,150 employees, and bosch laid off 1,200 employees...

this reflects the challenges faced by the entire european automotive industry in its transformation process.

however, the eu does not seem to have abandoned its original carbon neutrality plan because of the difficulties faced by the european automotive industry.

not long ago, renault ceo luca de meo revealed that the slowdown in demand for electric vehicles may cause the european auto industry to face a carbon emissions fine of 15 billion euros (about 17.4 billion u.s. dollars). de meo bluntly said: "the current growth rate of electric vehicles is only half the speed required to achieve the goal of not paying fines.

after 2025, europe will also face stricter eu carbon dioxide emissions targets.

therefore, the situation facing the european automotive industry is almost an unsolvable dead end. if it quickly transforms to electrification, it will face low demand, falling sales, falling profits or even losses, and will also cause social employment problems; if it does not transform, or even if the transformation is slow, it will have to accept huge carbon emission fines every year.

compared with the booming new energy industry in china, the century-old european automobile industry is going through a crisis.

the rise and fall of those international giants with a century-old history is more like a microcosm of the transformation period of the entire global automotive industry. the results of the transformation will be verified by time. (text/laopao)