Car of the Future, used markets, and job losses
16 May 2025
The FT Live’s Car of the Future conference, Europe’s used-car markets, and another round of industry job cuts. Autovista24 editor Tom Geggus examines the week’s news and events in The Automotive Update podcast.
In this week’s episode, Autovista24 explores FT Live’s Car of the Future event held in London. Also, a look at which European country is enjoying continued used-car market growth. Finally, the latest on job cuts at Nissan and Ford.
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Car of the Future
The FT Live’s Car of the Future event was held in London and streamed online. With the automotive industry facing multiple challenges, there was plenty for the panellists and interviewees to discuss.
One of the event’s biggest talking points was the uncertainty currently plaguing companies. Tariffs were recognised as a particular pain point, impacting the wider market and carmaker profits.
Barbra Frenkel, member of the executive board for procurement at Porsche, highlighted that open trade is needed. This is especially true with the lack of a localised battery supply chain in Europe. This means reliance on other countries to supply a growing electric vehicle (EV) market.
Tariffs on Chinese-built battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) are effectively a tool to buy time for the EU, according to Frenkel. However, they are not a measure to keep competition under control.
Looking at the wider view, Ineos Automotive CEO Lynn Calder highlighted that tariff-related trade talks are continuing between the US and the UK, as well as the US and China. But there has been little word from the US and the EU.
She added that banning hybrids from 2035 on the continent has made things difficult. Calder added that hybrids are a solution for range anxiety, as well as reaching emissions targets. She appeared sceptical that the market would be electric only from 2035.
Electric vehicle developments
Discussion at the FT Live event also turned to developments in the EV market. While there was once much talk about European networks of gigafactories, development has been slow.
The recent collapse of Northvolt has shown the difficulties the industry faces. Robin Fransis, head of lithium marketing at Glencore, highlighted that state aid is needed to bring battery production to the continent. He added that incentives are needed across the EV market. This includes consumer and business purchases.
Julia Poliscanova, senior director for vehicles and emobility at Transport and Environment, discussed a new report the association is launching. Of the current plans for battery production in Europe, 61% are at a high or medium risk of either not happening, being delayed, or being scaled down. This equates to over 700GWh of production being at risk.
Another area of the EV market that needs to develop is that of charging infrastructure. ACEA secretary general Sigrid de Vries said 60% of chargers in the EU are concentrated in just three countries. Namely, the Netherlands, France and Germany.
She said to meet current targets, between 3,500 and 8,000 new chargers need to be installed on a weekly basis. ACEA’s leader pointed out that this is not happening at present.
Stephen Marvin, director of research and development at PFA, said EV-market stagnation is not helping. It is hurting the business case for investment in charging infrastructure. So, governments need to work together to help finance growth. Currently, the charging infrastructure is a bottleneck to mass EV adoption.
Small cars and regulations
There was also discussion around the small-car market and changes in dealership strategies.
Luca de Meo, Renault CEO, pointed to research on the impact of regulations on small and medium cars. Between 2015 and 2030, medium car costs at Renault are projected to increase by 20%. This rises to 40% for small cars.
Looking at dealerships, Polestar CEO Michael Lohscheller stated that there is a need for high-performing dealers. Buyers now come equipped with so much information from conducting research online.
This point was backed up by Bill Berman, CEO of Pinewood AI, who said that the customer journey now starts online. This begins with finding the car, doing independent research, looking at carmaker websites, then finding a dealership or purchasing platform. This is a challenge dealerships must deal with.
Top-performing used-car markets
Autovista24’s analysis of Europe’s big five used-car markets has highlighted the comparatively weak performance of the continent’s new-car deliveries.
Analysis of transactions in France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the UK shows that one market is clearly performing above others. Spain is leading in growth amongst both new-car registrations and used-car sales.
Yet the strongest market in the first quarter of the year, in terms of volumes, was the UK. It recorded over two million used cars changing hands. This was the first time since before the COVID-19 pandemic that the country reached this quarterly threshold.
Job losses continue
Nissan has announced plans to cut its workforce by 20,000 between fiscal years 2024 and 2027. This number does include the previously announced reduction of 9,000 workers. The carmaker also plans to close seven plants globally by 2027.
Meanwhile, workers at Ford’s two car plants in Cologne, Germany recently went on strike over planned job cuts across the carmaker’s European operations. Workers voted to act after the company announced it would cut around 14% of its European workforce back in November 2024.
