ERFURT – More than half of the automotive companies surveyed in Thuringia are planning new products this year, and almost half are even planning to enter new business areas. Company executives identified the shortage of skilled workers and rising raw material, material, and energy costs as the greatest risks for their industries. These are key findings of the new AUTOMONITOR Thuringia study series, based on a survey of over one hundred Thuringian companies. The study was initiated by the Thuringian Cluster Management (ThCM) of the LEG (Thuringian Development Corporation) on behalf of the Ministry of Economic Affairs; it was conducted by a consortium consisting of the Chemnitz Automotive Institute (CATI) and the Thuringian industry cluster "automotive thüringen" (at). This in-depth analysis of the situation and opportunities for the automotive industry in the Free State of Thuringia built upon an earlier analysis from 2017. This industry monitoring will be continued annually in the future; AUTOMONITOR Thuringia was chosen as the title for the survey series.
“The high participation rate from Thuringian companies is an indication of the strong awareness of transformation within the industry,” says Thuringia’s Minister of Economic Affairs, Wolfgang Tiefensee, regarding the results of the new in-depth analysis. “The fact that a remarkable 45 percent of companies are exploring new fields demonstrates once again the enormous adaptability of our Thuringian SMEs. We are responding to this dynamic, among other things with the new funding instrument Thuringia Network Dynamics, a compact, flexible innovation funding module with a significantly streamlined application process.” The 102 company executives surveyed identified electromobility and the sustainability of products and processes as the most influential megatrends. According to the survey, Thuringia’s three greatest location advantages are its technological expertise, the qualifications of its employees, and close customer relationships. The Ministry and LEG (Thuringian Development Corporation) intend to use the current study, as well as further surveys and analyses within the AUTOMONITOR Thuringia series, to work together with companies to future-proof the automotive industry.
“In 2017, we subjected the sector to an in-depth analysis for the first time, which put us significantly ahead of the curve compared to other German states. Shortly thereafter, under the challenging conditions of pandemic, war, disrupted supply chains, and the energy crisis, we were able to successfully implement tailored economic policy measures based on reliable data,” explains LEG Managing Director Andreas Krey, outlining the approach. “With the continuous data collection and analysis within the framework of the new AUTOMONITOR series, and given the gratifyingly high level of participation from our companies, we will continue to be able to implement successful economic development measures based on sound data!”
The next edition of AUTOMONITOR Thüringen will be conducted this summer 2023 by ThCM with the involvement of “automotive thüringen” (at); the results are to be published in autumn 2023.
background
Few industries are currently undergoing such intense change and innovation pressure as the automotive and supplier sector, which is also among Thuringia's highest-revenue economic sectors and therefore of great importance to the Free State's economic and technological development. The current multifaceted transformation is exemplified by the megatrends in electromobility, autonomous driving, and digitalization. With the newly conceived AUTOMONITOR Thuringia series, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and the Thuringian State Development Corporation (LEG) aim to gain detailed insights into the state and future prospects of the Thuringian automotive industry in order to optimize economic policy strategies and support programs. The first in-depth analysis in 2017 provided crucial input for the "Automotive Agenda Thuringia," developed and presented in 2018 – a strategic process unique in Germany at the time, which has already proven successful in addressing the diverse challenges, particularly since 2020. The results of the current in-depth analysis will also be incorporated into measures, and the systematic analysis of the industry's condition and opportunities will continue with the conception of a future regularly recurring industry monitoring within the framework of AUTOMONITOR Thüringen.
Those interested can find the results of the current update of the in-depth analysis at:
www.cluster-thueringen.de/fortschreibung-tiefenanalyse
