The automotive industry’s challenges are stacking up. The immediate obstacles are the recovery phase out of the Covid pandemic, compounded by semiconductor and materials shortages. Those issues have been further aggravated by production slowdowns because of labour constraints, including staff that need to self isolate because of coming into potential contact with the virus.

However, once these relatively short-term issues are eased, the latest announcement from the EU on the roadmap for reducing emissions will be of far greater significance, as it will completely transform the automotive industry within the next decade or so – including the aim to eliminate pure combustion engine vehicles by 2035 across the EU.