Spanish car producers look to boost exports

The Spanish car industry can be one of the motors of the country's economic recovery, but needs to have certain conditions in order to be able to fulfill its potential.That is one of the main conclusions to be drawn from the first ANFAC and PwC Forum held in the Spain's capital city of Madrid on Tuesday.The Forum, which was organized by the organization which represents Spain's car manufacturers, looked at the factors which can help the sector compete with the rest of the world.Speaking to the audience, the Spanish Public Works Minister, Ana Pastor, highlighted there had been a 7 percent growth in car production in Spain so far in 2013 with around 90 percent of the cars produced in the country destined for exportation.She highlighted the importance of an efficient logistics system in this, stressing the importance, above all, or raid and sea links and in good connections between car production centers and the country's ports, especially, Barcelona, Valencia, Bilbao and Algeciras,quantum resonance magnetic analyzer which is important for exports to Africa,Used excavator a market where Spain is looking to make inroads.These links are important given that 80 percent of the total exports are by sea and exports of cars from Spanish ports rose by 9 percent this year as Spain looks to exploit markets such as North Africa, Turkey and the United States.Meanwhile a round table discussion with representatives of car companies which have factories in Spain, threw up some interesting conclusions.Frank Torres, who is Director General of Nissan in Spain,Clawfoot tub faucets highlighted that Spain has invested in vehicle production and has a long experience in the sector, which is an excellent starting position. He took looked at the country's strategic regional position, especially in regard to its ability to exploit the growing African market.He said that innovation was vital to the growth of the sector, both in the production process, but also in the introduction of new products, such as electric cars, which could open new markets and attract new clients. 

However, while he praised the willingness of the Spanish workforce to make a financial effort in times of crisis, he sent a message to the government that recent increases in energy costs, rendered those efforts almost worthless as savings made in one sector were then spent in another.Vintage tubsAntonio Cobo, the General Director of Opel in Spain, stressed that the quality of cars was highly competitive,tyre equipments while the engineers in Spanish factories were some of the best qualified in the world. He believes Spain has to know how to sell these virtues, something which is important given that wage freezes and the risk of unemployment has seen a flow of talent out of the country.Manuel Diaz, who is the PWC expert in the automobile sector believes the secret to growth is looking outside of Europe for that opportunity given that in the near future at least there would be zero growth in the car sector in the EU, while other regions offer greater opportunities.Last year saw ANFAC launch a plan to lead to the production of three million cars a year in the country. It looks as if 2013 will see around 2.2 million cars built, which is more than Russia and not far below that of Canada.With the infrastructure in place and being improved, Diaz said the sector was undervalued, but that it needed to take a longer term view to see what will happen in 2020 and 2025, but at the moment with the internal market still stagnant, it is clear the only way at the moment that Spain can produce three million cars a year is if it produces for the world.