Conti sees 'sideways trend' in car output

Hanover, Germany – The global car industry is currently facing a sharp decline in the market environment and German technology and automotive supplier Continental Corp. anticipates the trend to continue into 2020. 

According to CFO Wolfgang Schäfer, fewer than 90 million vehicles are expected to be produced worldwide this year, 10 million units below the market assumptions from two years ago.
 
“We, like other market participants, do not expect a material improvement in global production in the next five years,” he added.

Looking ahead to next year, Schäfer said “at best, we foresee a sideways trend in global automotive production in 2020.” 

He also noted that a decline in global production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles for a third year in succession remained “a distinct possibility.”
 
In the third quarter, the production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles in China was down by more than 5% year-on-year. In Europe and North America, the figure was nearly on par with the prior-year figures.
 
Conti said it anticipated that that production rates will continue to decline in the fourth quarter in these three key regions. 

For the year as a whole, Continental expects the decline in the global production of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles to be about 6% year-on-year.