Fiat Chrysler Automobiles CEO Mike Manley will offer views on how to revive the European auto market next week in a seminar sponsored by industry association ACEA.
Manley, who is president of ACEA, will deliver his address ahead of a debate among industry figures on how to ensure that the recovery is also environmentally sound.
Participants include Henrik Henriksson, CEO and president of Scania Group and chairman of ACEA’s commercial vehicle board; Diederik Samsom, head of cabinet for Frans Timmermans, the first vice president of the European Commission, which issues emissions regulations; and Colin Couchman, an analyst at IHS Markit.
German Economy Minister Peter Altmaier will present the perspective of Europe’s largest automotive market.
The coronavirus pandemic, which hit Europe starting in mid-March, led to several months of widespread factory and dealership shutdowns. Automakers slashed sales, production and profit forecasts, and many moved to protect their finances by shoring up their available credit.
Sales started to rise again in some markets starting in June, helped by incentives and pent-up demand, but worries about a second wave of coronavirus infections have put a damper on optimistic recovery forecasts.
Analysts are predicting Europe sales declines this year of at least 20 percent, with a return to pre-pandemic levels not expected until as late as mid-decade.
The free seminar, “Putting the EU auto industry back on track post-COVID,” will be held Oct. 20.
