Spanish Car-Parts Makers Post Record Profits in 2016

MADRID – Spanish suppliers of automotive equipment and components posted record profits of €34 billion ($38 billion) in 2016, up 6% from prior-year and surpassing the previous record of €33 billion set in 2007.

Maria Helena Antolin, president of the Spanish Association of Manufacturers of Equipment and Components for Automotive, credits the result to improved economies locally and in Europe, the sector’s main export market.

Equipment and components manufacturers created more than 7,000 new jobs last year for a total of 212,000 direct jobs, up 3.7% from 2015. Including indirect jobs, employees in the sector number 343,500.

Antolin says exports to Europe reached €19.5 billion ($21.8 billion) in 2016, up 3.2% from a year earlier. “This figure represents 57% of the sector’s turnover and more than 80% if we take into account the components installed in vehicles that are exported,” she says.

Of the €14.5 billion ($16.2 billion) in 2016 domestic profits, vehicle assemblers accounted for €9.6 billion ($10.7 billion), up 13% from 2015, and the spare-parts market accounted for €4.9 billion ($5.5 billion), up 6% from 2015.

The trade group, which has changed its name to Spanish Association of Automotive Suppliers, predicts profits will improve 7% this year compared with a year earlier, while employment will rise between 2% and 3%.