Hundreds of thousands of jobs in the European automotive industry have been cut in recent years.

Omissions

• The best documented figure (CLEPA) is 104,000 announced job cuts in the automotive SUPPLY sector for 2024-2025 — at the lower boundary of what 'hundreds of thousands' (Hunderttausende) usually implies (200,000+); the total only reaches the 'hundreds of thousands' range if original equipment manufacturers and a longer time window (e.g., 2023-2026) are included.
• The documented figures are ANNOUNCED cuts, most of which were scheduled for implementation over the following two to five years (CLEPA), so not all were necessarily already realized by the session date of 2026-07-07.
• The 104,000 figure covering full-year 2025 data was published in early 2026 and may not have been available to the MEP at the session; however, the 2024 data (54,000 announced supplier cuts) was published in 2025 and was known before the session.
• Sources are sector association data (CLEPA, primary) and trade union estimates (IndustriAll), not Eurostat employment statistics on realized net job losses.

Sources

• PrimaryCLEPA (European Association of Automotive Suppliers) — Data Digest: Structural pressures on Europe's suppliersIn 2024 and 2025 together, automotive suppliers have announced 104000 job cuts – corresponding to around 142 jobs per day.
• PrimaryCLEPA — Data Digest 18: Job losses escalate as demand stays below expectationIn 2024 alone, automotive suppliers announced that 54,000 jobs will be cut, with most of these in the next two to five years.
• SecondaryFinancial Times — Job losses in European car parts sectorEuropean car parts suppliers have announced more than 100,000 job losses in the past two years as they suffer from low demand for vehicles; figures compiled by European trade body Clepa show parts suppliers announced 50,000 job losses in 2025, following a similar wave in 2024.
• SecondaryIndustriAll European Trade Union — The EU Strategic Dialogue on the automotive industryOver 80,000 job losses were announced in the European automotive industry in the second half of 2024.
• SecondaryEurofound — Crisis in the EU automotive industryIn 2024 and early 2025, further restructuring was announced. Job losses in vehicle manufacturing were mainly concentrated in western Europe.