Industry Focus >>Automobile production and sales
have always been one of the indicatorsfor determining whether the related
ind u st rie s are d oing well or not.
T he prod uction o f an automobile
requires the use o f many small
parts and fastening components, so
the f luctuations of production andsale s will have an im pact on theorders received in the supply chainof these products. According to theInternational Organization of Motor
Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA), theglobal automobile production and sales
have been on a general growth trend
over the past three years, with moresignif icant growth margin between
2022 and 2023. In this article, we will
analyze the latest automobile sales
and production figures for 2023, andfurther compare them with those for2021-2022 to give readers a glimpse
o f the change s in the automobile
industry's outlook.

Overall Upward Trend in Global Production and Sales, withMore Significant Year-on-year Growth
Global automobile production was about 80 million units in 2021, which grew tonearly 85 million units in 2022, and then expanded to nearly 94 million units in 2023,
an increase of about 10% over the 2022 figure; the global sales were in a slightdecline from nearly 84 million units in 2021 to nearly 83 million units in 2022, butgrew sharply to nearly 93 million units in 2023, with a similar increase of more than
10% over the previous year. The goal of annual production and sales of more than 100
million vehicles seems to be within reach.

Europe and Asia are the Most Productive, While theAmericas Need More Incentives
Europe's automobile production grew from approximately 16 million units 3 years ago
to more than 18 million units in 2023, representing a 13% year-over-year increase. It is
the world's 3rd largest automobile production region, with Germany, Spain, France, theCzech Republic and Slovakia being the top 5 automobile producers in 2023. Germany
and the Czech Republic in particular showed the most significant year-on-year changes,
which were 18% and 15%, respectively. Production in most European countries remainedat growth levels, except for Serbia, Finland and Slovenia, which experienced significant
production declines of 96%, 59% and 11%, respectively. In addition, Turkey, which isactively seeking to become a member state of the European Union, has also seen its
automobile production grow year by year, reaching a level of more than 1.45 million
vehicles in 2023, a year-on-year growth of 9%. These figures fully demonstrate that themomentum of the automobile manufacturing industry in Europe and neighboring countries
is slowly picking up.

Global Car Productionand Sales
2023全球汽車產銷統計

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

in 2023082 惠達雜誌Industry Focus >>In Russia, Ukraine, and Central Asian countries, Russia's vehicle
production in 2023 significantly reduced by more than 50% compared tothe 2021 figure, and Ukraine shrank from more than 7,000 to less than
2,000 vehicles. However, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan all
showed significant growth over 2021.
The Americas, the world's 2nd largest automobile production region,
grew from about 16 million units in 2021 all the way to more than 19
million units in 2023, an 8% increase from 2022. In North America,
although Canada had the largest year-on-year increase, however, interms of volume, more than 90% of production was still concentrated
in the U.S. and Mexico. The overall production in South America wasbelow 3 million units, with no significant year-on-year change. Brazil isthe largest producer of automobiles in South America, with productionof more than 2.3 million vehicles in 2023, which still showed a slight
year-on-year decline of 2%. Argentina and Colombia rank 2nd and 3rd
respectively.
The Asia-Pacific region is the world's largest automobile production
region, with its production volume rising from over 46 million units in2021 to over 50 million units in 2022, and surpassing the 55 millionunit mark in 2023, representing a 10% year-on-year increase. The top
5 automobile producing countries were China (more than 30 millionvehicles), Japan (nearly 9 million vehicles), India (about 5.9 millionvehicles), South Korea (more than 4 million vehicles) and Thailand (nearly
1.9 million vehicles). Among the top 5 countries, except for Thailand,

which experienced a slight decline compared to the year
before last, the other countries still maintained positivegrowth. In addition, Indonesia in ASEAN and Iran in theMiddle East also showed a production scale of more than
one million units of strength. Malaysia's production volume
was less than one million, but still had a 10% growth yearon-year.
Africa's production, though small compared to otherregions, was still over a million units in size and grew byaround 15% year-on-year to 2023. Automobile production in
the region was concentrated in South Africa and Morocco,with more than 600,000 and 500,000 vehicles respectively.
Egypt, on the other hand, had no published data on vehicle
production between 2021 and 2023.

Overall, Europe's automobile productionrebounded the most significantly. Except for theAmericas, where growth did not reach morethan 10%, all other regions saw at least 10%
growth, indicating that the outlook for global
automobile production remains favorable.

Table 1. World Motor Vehicle Production by Country/Region and Type
Variation
2023/2022

2021

2022

2023

16,137,638

16,032,840

18,122,449

13%

Germany, cars and LCV only

3,096,165

3,480,357

4,109,371

18%

EUROPE
Spain

2,098,133

2,219,436

2,451,221

10%

France, cars and LCV only

1,352,226

1,383,173

1,505,076

9%

Czech Republic

1,111,432

1,224,456

1,404,501

15%

Slovakia

1,030,000

982,194

1,080,000

10%

United Kingdom

932,488876,614

1,025,474

17%

Italy

797,243796,394

880,08511%

Poland439,421483,840

612,882

27%

Romania

420,755

509,465

513,0501%

Hungary

416,725

441,729507,225

15%

Belgium

261,038

285,473

332,103

16%

Portugal

289,954

322,404

318,231-1%

Sweden, yearly only

258,023

238,955

276,750

16%

Netherlands, yearly only

107,021

101,670

123,379

21%

Austria

136,700

121,428

114,191-6%

Slovenia

95,797

68,13060,881-11%

Finland, cars only

85,93473,04430,191-59%

Serbia21,263

4,498

186

-96%

1,911,188

1,066,932

1,309,259

23%

CIS (excluding Belarus & Ukraine)惠達雜誌Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

Units

All Vehicles

083

Industry Focus >>Table 1. World Motor Vehicle Production by Country/Region and Type
Units
Belarus29,891

N/A

N/A

Variation
2023/2022-Russia

1,567,007

609,082

729,864

20%

Uzbekistan

242,104

341,167

425,876

25%

Kazakhstan

92,417112,720

146,98930%

Azerbaijan

2,318

2,473

4,53784%

All Vehicles

2022

2023

Ukraine

7,342

1,490

1,993

34%

Turkey1,276,140

1,352,648

1,468,393

9%

AMERICA

16,190,835

17,753,536

19,136,891

8%

NAFTA

13,467,065

14,795,419

16,166,628

9%

USA

9,157,205

10,052,958

10,611,555

6%

Mexico3,194,858

3,509,101

4,002,047

14%

Canada1,115,002

1,233,360

1,553,026

26%

2,723,770

2,958,117

2,970,263

0%Brazil2,248,253

2,369,769

2,324,838-2%

Argentina ,cars and LCV only

434,753

536,893

610,725

14%

Colombia

40,76451,45534,700-33%

46,768,800

50,021,217

55,115,837

10%

China

26,121,712

27,020,615

30,160,966

12%

Japan

7,836,908

7,835,539

8,997,440

15%

India

4,399,112

5,457,242

5,851,507

7%South Korea

3,462,404

3,757,049

4,243,597

13%

Thailand

1,685,705

1,883,515

1,841,663-2%

Indonesia

1,121,967

1,470,146

1,395,717-5%

Iran, yearly only

894,298

1,064,215

1,188,471

12%

Malaysia

481,651

702,275

774,600

10%

Taiwan265,320

261,263

285,962

10%

SOUTH AMERICA

ASIA-OCEANIA

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

2021

Vietnam, yearly only

167,799

232,410

177,435-24%

Philippines, yearly only

85,874

92,223110,350

20%

Pakistan

238,702

235,454

79,513-66%

Australia, yearly only

5,391

6,096

7,141

17%

Myanmar, yearly only

1,957

3,175

1,475

-54%

907,302

1,022,783

1,171,422

15%

N/A

N/A

N/A

-South Africa

499,087

555,889

633,337

14%

Morocco403,007464,864

535,825

15%

Algeria

5,208

2,773

2,456

-11%

80,004,575

84,830,376

93,546,599

10%

AFRICA (excluding Egypt)
Egypt, yearly only

TOTAL
Estimate
N/A : Not Available

084 惠達雜誌CARS: Audi, BMW, JLR, Mercedes not reported
COMMERCIAL VEHICLES: SINCE Q1 2015: Scania, Daimler Trucks,Volvo Buses not reported

Industry Focus >>Europe Leads Americas, Asia in Sales Gains / Automotive Market Remains Robust
The car sales of Europe (plus the UK) and their production can be said to be very close, which were about 17 million units in 2021, ashort decline to about 15 million units in 2022, and a substantial growth of 18.7% to nearly 18 million units in 2023. The top 5 countries
in terms of sales were Germany, the UK, France, Italy, and Spain. Except for Germany, the other four countries all had an year-over-yearincrease of at least 10%. Among all European countries, only Norway showed a 21% decline and Hungary showed less than 1% increase,
while all the other European countries showed significant growth.
Turkey's sales grew by more than 55% in 2023, dramatically increasing to nearly 1.3 million units. Its sales were just under a million
units in 2021 and 2022.
In Russia and Ukraine, the data showed a significant decline in sales in 2022, but a significant growth has already begun since 2023,
reaching more than 1.3 million and more than 700,000 units of vehicles, respectively.
The Americas is the world's 2nd largest market for automobile sales, only second to the Asia-Pacific region. Its sales in the past threeyears all crossed the mark of 20 million units and reached more than 23 million in 2023, a year-on-year increase of 11.4%. In North
America, unlike Mexico, which also accounted for a large share of the region’s production data, sales were almost exclusively within the U.S.,
with less than 2 million units sold in both Mexico and Canada. In the Central and South American region, sales were between 3.8 million
and 4.1 million units, a slight increase of about 2.8% over the previous year. Brazil alone accounted for more than half of the region's sales,
followed by Argentina and Chile with only about 300,000-400,000 units, respectively. Sales in Chile and Colombia both contracted byalmost 30%.

Africa's sales, similar to its production, reached only about 1 million units
in size, with a slight decrease of 2.4% year-on-year in 2023. South Africa alone
accounted for more than half of the region’s total sales, and its sales in 2023
were up slightly by 3.4% year-on-year. Morocco and Egypt, which rank 2nd and3rd, had sales of only 160,000 and less than 100,000, respectively, making theirmarket sizes less influential.

Overall, Europe's automobile
sales grow th was significantly
higher than those of the Americas
and A sia, but all these three
regions showed growth, with onlya small contraction in Africa. Thisshows that in 2023, the automobile
sales activities in Europe, Americaand Asia continued to be active.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

Asia-Pacific/Oceania/the Middle East are the world's most important automotive sales
regions. The overall sales grew from around 44 million units in 2021 to more than
50 million units, a year-on-year increase of 10.2%. The region alone accounted forabout 55% of the global sales. The top 5 countries with the highest car sales wereChina (more than 30 million units), India (more than 5 million units), Japan(nearly 4.8 million units), South Korea (about 1.8 million units), and Australia(about 1.2 million units). Among these five countries, the year-on-year ratiosof China, Japan and Australia were all over 12%. It is worth noting thatthe sales of ASEAN countries declined marginally by 0.1%, with only thePhilippines, Malaysia and Vietnam showing growth of 16.4%, 9.2% and2.6% respectively, while the other ASEAN countries were all in a decline.
In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Israel all posted sales
growth of more than 20%.

惠達雜誌085Industry Focus >>Table 2. Registrations or Sales of New Vehicles - All Types
Regions/Countries

2021

2022

2023

2023/ 2022

EUROPE

16,882,486

15,079,901

17,898,967

18.7%

EU 27 countries + EFTA + UK

14,141,084

13,295,670

15,128,471

13.8%

Germany

2,973,319

2,963,748

3,204,298

8.1%

United Kingdom

2,049,005

1,943,572

2,263,666

16.5%

France2,142,284

1,926,554

2,209,102

14.7%

Italy

1,669,855

1,505,052

1,794,655

19.2%

Spain

1,034,084

958,978

1,127,868

17.6%

Poland554,619

517,683

576,850

11.4%

Belgium

463,811431,594

555,002

28.6%

Netherlands

402,823

385,198

457,984

18.9%

Sweden343,880

329,868

341,842

3.6%

Switzerland

272,087

254,683

287,436

12.9%

Austria

306,176

244,694

278,896

14.0%

Czech Republic

236,221219,172

255,676

16.7%

Other Countries

237,574

228,751

254,206

11.1%

Portugal

180,287

186,139

229,885

23.5%

Denmark

221,916

180,976

203,951

12.7%

Romania

145,400

150,641

170,718

13.3%

Norway217,464

210,007

164,053-21.9%

Ireland136,126

131,398

154,247

17.4%

Greece112,364

115,878

145,606

25.7%

Hungary

150,387

135,571

135,648

0.1%

Finland

115,291

96,622

102,730

6.3%

Slovakia

87,34990,074

101,842

13.1%

Croatia

54,29051,322

67,313

31.2%

Bulgaria

34,47237,49544,99720.0%

2,741,402

1,784,231

2,770,496

55.3%

Russia1,741,965

808,604

1,317,438

62.9%

Turkey772,850

831,220

1,288,678

55.0%

Other Countries/Regions

96,81990,27981,844-9.3%

Ukraine121,772

45,66173,76961.6%

AMERICA

22,003,539

20,876,860

23,247,296

11.4%USMCA (former NAFTA)

18,160,147

16,927,732

19,187,705

13.4%

USA

15,408,565

14,230,324

16,009,268

12.5%

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

Russia, Turkey & Other Europe

Canada1,704,850

1,562,965

1,764,516

12.9%

Mexico1,046,732

1,134,443

1,413,921

24.6%

Central & South America

3,843,392

3,949,128

4,059,591

2.8%

Brazil2,119,851

2,104,461

2,308,689

9.7%

Argentina

370,341

395,562

439,173

11.0%

Other Countries/Regions

340,213387,908

426,586

10.0%

Chile

415,582426,781308,170-27.8%

Colombia229,493237,249

169,058-28.7%

086 惠達雜誌Industry Focus >>Regions/Countries

2021

2022

2023

2023/ 2022

Peru

152,856

162,095

165,146

1.9%

Ecuador109,707126,050

124,059-1.6%

Puerto Rico

105,349

109,022

118,710

8.9%

ASIA/OCEANIA/MIDDLE EAST

43,618,875

45,838,945

50,528,563

10.2%

ASEAN

2,779,838

3,269,405

3,266,588

-0.1%

China

26,314,263

26,863,745

30,093,698

12.0%

India

3,759,398

4,725,560

5,079,985

7.5%

Japan

4,448,340

4,201,320

4,779,086

13.8%

Other Countries/Regions

1,340,520

1,753,132

1,866,944

6.5%

South Korea

1,734,581

1,683,657

1,749,729

3.9%

Australia

1,049,831

1,081,429

1,216,780

12.5%

Indonesia

887,205

1,048,040

1,005,802-4.0%

Thailand748,580

849,388775,780-8.7%

Saudi Arabia

556,559

616,491

758,791

23.1%

Malaysia

508,911607,000

663,000

9.2%

Taiwan422,000

415,195

434,000

4.5%

Philippines

286,734

359,370418,249

16.4%

Israel311,291

288,126

359,337

24.7%

Vietnam

260,850

330,280

338,854

2.6%

United Arab Emirates

188,844

207,539

259,139

24.9%

Uzbekistan

184,500

205,145

195,500-4.7%

Kazakhstan

113,600

101,527

173,506

70.9%

New Zealand

165,287

164,491

148,717-9.6%

Kuwait100,157

110,118

129,448

17.6%

Pakistan

237,424

227,392

82,218-63.8%

1,133,520

1,075,388

1,049,842-2.4%South Africa

450,674

514,178

531,787

3.4%

Other Countries/Regions

229,606

224,676

270,507

20.4%

Morocco175,435

161,409

161,504

0.1%

Egypt

277,805

175,125

86,044-50.9%

83,638,420

82,871,094

92,724,668

11.9%

AFRICAALL COUNTRIES/REGIONS

Summary
According to the aforementioned data, the current global automobile production and sales still maintain a trend of positive development,and if the general environment does not change and there are no other major external factors to make any impact, the 2024 global
automobile production and sales should be very likely to approach or even exceed the 100 million units mark.
In recent years, many Chinese, Japanese, European and American automakers have started to invest more resources in R&D of newvehicle models (such as electric vehicles, hybrid vehicles, new energy vehicles, etc.) in the hope of stimulating consumers' desire to buy
and stimulating the market. Coupled with the fact that the average replacement cycle of automobiles is generally around 5-10 years, it isestimated that with the support of these favorable factors, automotive peripheral related components and fastening components suppliers
should also be able to get some orders under the trend of growing demand.

Hardware & Fastener Components - no.62/2024

Table 2. Registrations or Sales of New Vehicles - All Types

Copyright owned by Fastener World / Article by Gang Hao Chang, Vice Editor-in-Chief惠達雜誌087