Don't Write Off the European Jalopy Just Yet
Every so often, the market gets a collective bee in its bonnet about something. For the last year, the consensus has been that Europe is finished, its industries are creaking, and its consumers are hiding under the duvet. Then, a company like BMW comes along and posts a 10.1% surge in European sales, and the whole narrative looks rather silly. It seems to me that writing off the continent’s automotive sector was, to put it mildly, a bit premature.
This isn’t just about one German luxury brand selling a few more saloons. To me, it’s a signal flare. It suggests a surprising resilience in the European economy that the doom-mongers missed. When people are still buying cars, it tells you something fundamental about consumer confidence. And this opportunity isn’t confined to the showroom floor. It ripples through a vast ecosystem. Think of Stellantis, the behemoth behind Peugeot and Fiat. They are the bread and butter of European roads. Or consider Autoliv, a company that makes the safety systems inside these cars. When production lines speed up, their order books get fatter. It’s a simple, mechanical relationship that many seem to have overlooked.