Page 68 - Ekonomija i Biznis_noemvri 2015.indd

WORLD
age points. This could be the final outcome if
the “Volkswagen” scandal with the diesel en-
gines jeopardizes the other manufacturers.
At the moment of writing this text, the news
regarding the recent problems in “Volkswa-
gen” are so fresh, that the experts refrain
from estimations, however they consider that
the new problems will shake the confidence
of drivers, because they also put in question
the fuel consumption in Volkswagen’s vehi-
cles, which was not the case with the previ-
ous problem of car exhaust emissions.
The European Transport Federation re-
cently warned that the new automobiles
manufactured in Europe emit carbon dioxide
on average about 40% more than tests show,
although there are no suggestions that there
is tuned software in the other models. In Eu-
rope the diesel automobiles participate in the
total automotive manufacturing with 53% (in
2014) compared to only 3% in the USA. The
export in the automotive industry from CEE
is mostly concentrated on the European mar-
ket. More precisely, two thirds of the import of is even greater when it comes to transfer
automobiles and automotive parts from CEE
is directed towards the European Union, and
50% towards Germany, United Kingdom and
France. In contrast, the automobile import
from Western Europe is directed towards the
United Stated, Asia and the BRICS countries.
The growing network of manufacturers of
automotive parts in CEE is also concentrated
on Germany to a great extent. This is not very
good news in a period when Germany weighs
how sharply to punish “Volkswagen”, fearing
that this corporate scandal might be trans-
ferred to other German automobile manufac-
turers as well, and might cast a shadow over
the entire German industry.
Central and Eastern Europe (CEE)
and Western Balkans
Investments in the automotive industry of
CEE are part of one of the most successful
stories since the fall of the Berlin Wall, where
the geopolitical and economic reasons had
the decisive role in the connection prima-
rily of Germany and the economies of these
countries. This historical moment happened
in a period when, realizing that they must in-
crease competitiveness, primarily European
manufacturers started to move the lighter
works in the surrounding countries.
68 November 2015
In the focus
The crisis strengthened the restructuring of the sector and
led to a significant reduction of earnings, however at the
same time it attracted new investors: “Mercedes” in Hungary,
“Volkswagen” in Slovakia, “Bosch” in Hungary, “Renault” and
“Toyota” in Turkey and “Fiat” in Serbia
The impact of the automotive industry on
the overall economic activities in the coun-
try where the assembly of automobiles and
manufacturing of automotive parts has been
transferred, exceeds the frames of the statis-
tical range of the group. On the “input side”,
this sector is driven by the manufacturing of
steel and metal products, the manufacturing
of high-tech and other components, and on
the “output side” it generates a demand for
auto repair shops, gas stations, automobile
wash facilities and other accompanying facil-
ities. According to Hungary’s experience, for
every 100 new job positions in the automotive
industry, 235 additional job positions are gen-
erated with the suppliers.
The relevance of the automotive industry
of technologies. On the wings of the invest-
ments of “Mercedes”, “Volkswagen”, “Daim-
ler”, “BMW”, of the French, the Italian, the
American and the Asian manufacturers, the
CEE countries have built a strong manufac-
turing base and gradually developed the cap-
itally-intensive branches with a higher added
value that the Western Balkan countries can
only dream of.
According to Mackenzie’s studies from
2013, CEE have even then registered a surplus
of 2% of the GDP in the knowledge-intensive
sectors, thanks to the automotive sectors.
In contrast, in the Western Balkans there
is a dominant basis for the part of automo-
bile supplies with a labor-intensive structure
(sewing of covers, manufacturing of airbags,
cable sets etc.), which has lower added value