Jens Hörning

Dear Friends and Business Partners,

Globalisation is continuing and technological developments will certainly play an important role. Global leaders are focussing on the impact of the current trends on big data and digitalisation. Businesses that are part of a value chain are not always clear about the direction they should move in as they are dependent on the decisions of their ultimate customers. And these decisions have often not yet been made. Global leaders are also raising concerns about the increasing pace of new technologies, and that is creating challenges as regards strategic decisions and security aspects. In addition, future political decisions may create trade barriers and uncertainties in the area of taxes and customs.

All these challenges are well known to Slovak business leaders and to decision makers in the automotive industry, both OEMs and the supplier industry. In addition, Slovak automotive CEOs are searching for skilled and motivated people as the business outlook is positive. This is not only about a scarcity of labour, but also about the requirements and aspirations of the younger generation, and the implementation of new technologies.

At PwC, we expect the electrification of passenger cars to speed up significantly in the next couple of years, both hybrids and pure electric cars. By 2023, alternative powertrain production in the EU27 could gain a share of 16%, which may not sound significant, but would translate into almost 3.8 million cars. Electrification in Europe will be driven by EU regulations to further decrease emissions, and the downsizing of combustion engines alone will not help fleets to reach the limits set for 2021. Electrification will transform the automotive industry in many ways, providing opportunities and also creating challenges for suppliers, especially those focused on traditional powertrains and of course the Slovak automotive industry will also be affected.

This is the fifth Slovak Automotive Supplier Survey and the results were published in May 2017. Generally, Slovak automotive suppliers remain positive about the business environment, and the general outlook for the Slovakia automotive industry is stable and investors continue to be confident. However, nothing is guaranteed, and Slovakia needs to continuously reconfirm its ability to stay flexible and agile with respect to changes to business and in the competitive environment, and productivity gains need to match cost increases. We hope you will find the survey interesting reading and that you will gain insights as regards supplier industry representatives. I feel certain you will find the results useful and they will add value.