Supply Chain Resilience in the European Automotive Industry

The transformation of supply chains is an important factor for European Automotive OEMs to compete internationally. But it turns out that these are not as resilient as required. A resilient supply chain requires appropriate risk management measures that minimize internal and external influences. However, in some areas of value creation and supply chains, weaknesses are evident that are determined by a high dependence on international supplier markets. This approach to research in this area investigates whether Automotive OEM internal departments perceive certain risks differently. This was done by means of a survey of European OEMs to reveal different perceptions on important aspects of risk-based factors. Internal resilience would be necessary as a first step towards strengthening the supply chains in order to subsequently position themselves against stronger emerging competition from the Asian and US economies. This requires a strong European centering of supplier and partner networks, for example in the area of physical goods such as semiconductors and batteries. In order to support these necessary developments, networks are being established and promoted by the EU. GAIA-X and especially Catena-X are bases for the Automotive industry to adapt and optimize resilience and compliance regulations to governmental and intranational guidelines. As result of this research, it remains to be said that the realignment of supply chains must succeed in improving cooperation and delivery conditions across the entire OEM spectrum while at the same time reducing costs. In this way, the European Automotive market can be positioned as a resilient, strong market player for the future. The basic prerequisite for this is a uniform and coordinated view of risk-based factors in the individual companies and departments.