Latest news with #WesternEurope
Yahoo
a day ago
- Automotive
- Yahoo
The changing landscape of European bodystyles
The simultaneous rise of SUVs and decline of Hatchbacks indicates that consumers are increasingly favoring vehicles that provide more space and versatility. According to GlobalData's bodystyle analysis, SUVs are estimated to account for 58% of Passenger Vehicles (PVs) in Western Europe by the end of 2025, up from 37% in 2020. This shift in consumer preference has allowed the SUV segment to gain market share at the expense of Conventional Vehicles, including Hatchbacks, Sedans, and MPVs. In 2020, Hatchbacks were still the most popular bodystyle in Western Europe, holding a 40% market share. However, in 2021, SUVs overtook Hatchbacks to claim the largest share, marking an important shift in the composition of the regional market. Supply chain crises, cost pressures associated with electrification, and evolving consumer preferences have compelled manufacturers to adapt their offerings, with less profitable Small Cars—particularly Hatchbacks—caught in the crossfire. Pandemic-induced supply issues forced automakers to prioritize higher-margin vehicles, which expedited the decline in sales of smaller Hatchback models. By the end of 2025, Hatchbacks are projected to fall to a market share of just 26%, with a further decline to 24% expected by 2030. However, the fact that they remain a key entry-level option should prevent their market share from dropping to the lows seen for other affected bodystyles, such as MPVs. The emergence of Chinese automakers highlights the importance of SUVs in the European market. According to GlobalData's brand origin data, SUVs are expected to comprise over 70% of Chinese brand sales in Western Europe this year. Partly thanks to their economies of scale and government support, these manufacturers are now effectively competing worldwide. However, our forecast reveals a contrasting scenario in China, where only 52% of sales from domestic manufacturers will be accounted for by SUVs. This underscores the stronger European preference for SUVs, prompting Chinese manufacturers to strategically focus their efforts on this segment. Another segment that is projected to grow in the coming years is the Sedan bodystyle, which is set to be better supported by the market's shift toward Electric Vehicles (EVs), potentially due to their weight and aerodynamic advantages. Additionally, Sedans are typically designed with an emphasis on ride comfort, making them an appealing choice for many customers. Kia and Lexus are both scheduled to launch Midsize electric Sedans in 2027, while Audi is expected to launch an electric successor to the A3 in both Sedan and Hatchback variations. SUVs are already dominant in the Premium market, limiting the potential for growth through 2030. Nonetheless, our forecast anticipates that this bodystyle will expand from 43% in 2020 to 64%. Meanwhile, Hatchbacks such as the A-class and A1 are expected to be discontinued and the loss of these volume models will put downward pressure on the bodystyle's market share. However, several automakers are streamlining their production efforts to focus on more profitable models as a result. For example, Volvo is continuing to add a range of electric SUVs to its line-up. The EX30 and EX90 were introduced in 2023 and 2024, respectively, while production of the EX60 is expected to commence in 2026. In the Non-Premium segment, SUVs are estimated to expand from 35% in 2020 to 61% in 2030, with many brands adding several electric SUVs across the forecast horizon. For example, Honda Group is set to roll out the 0 SUV, while Toyota Group is scheduled to launch a Large electric SUV in 2028. In addition, Volkswagen Group is also ramping up to establish a significant presence in the SUV segment, with plans to introduce a series of models across Europe. Notable releases include the ID.2, expected in Q4 2025, along with the Skoda Epiq in 2026, and the electric T-Roc in 2029. Expected to fare better than Hatchbacks are Sedans and Wagons, which will likely be more resistant to losing market share. In Germany, the share of Wagons is particularly robust, with the bodystyle holding 16% of the country's PV market in 2024. Although their popularity has faded over the years, they remain a practical and fuel-efficient alternative to SUVs. In summary, the transition to SUVs is primarily driven by evolving consumer preferences, profitability considerations, and strategic responses to market trends and supply chain dynamics. While Hatchbacks and smaller vehicles face a challenging road ahead, the resilience of Sedans and Wagons suggests that there is still room for diversity in the market. The rise of electric SUVs and the entry of new players, particularly from China, will continue to reshape the competitive landscape, forcing established automakers to innovate and adapt. Georgia Lakey, Research Assistant, Research and Analysis This article was first published on GlobalData's dedicated research platform, the . "The changing landscape of European bodystyles" was originally created and published by Just Auto, a GlobalData owned brand. The information on this site has been included in good faith for general informational purposes only. It is not intended to amount to advice on which you should rely, and we give no representation, warranty or guarantee, whether express or implied as to its accuracy or completeness. You must obtain professional or specialist advice before taking, or refraining from, any action on the basis of the content on our site. 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News24
a day ago
- Business
- News24
Ireland's 'economic miracle' at risk from tariffs
The deal between the United States and the European Union may have averted a transatlantic trade war, but worries persist in Ireland, where crucial sectors are dependent on US multinationals. Attracted primarily by low corporate taxes, huge pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson, and tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta have based their European headquarters there. The US investor influx has boosted Irish tax coffers and fuelled record budget surpluses in recent years. But Trump's tariffs — a baseline rate of 15 percent on EU exports will apply across the board - present a stress test for the Irish economic model. Once one of western Europe's economic laggards, Ireland became known as the "Celtic Tiger" thanks to a remarkable turnaround in the 1990s. A model built on low corporate tax and an English-speaking workforce in an EU country proved seductive to foreign investors, particularly from the US. Their presence drove rampant economic growth and would later help Ireland rebound from the financial crash of 2008. The transition was an "Irish economic miracle," said Louis Brennan, professor of business studies at Trinity College Dublin. "Ireland has advanced in a matter of decades from being one of the poorest countries of northwestern Europe to being one of the most prosperous," he told AFP. Last year, Ireland hiked its corporate tax rate from 12.5 to 15 percent after pressure from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but still anticipates a budget surplus of 9.7 billion euros for 2025. Ireland's "spectacular" transformation "may have been too successful because we are very dependent in many ways on American companies," says Dan O'Brien, director of the IIEA think tank in Dublin. Bad medicine Spared from the first round of Trump's tariffs, pharmaceutical companies are now being targeted by the American administration, keen to repatriate production to home soil. Earlier this month, the US president threatened a 200 percent levy on the sector. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin expressed mixed feelings at Sunday's 15 percent deal, welcoming that "punitively high tariffs" were avoided. But "higher tariffs than there have been" will make transatlantic trade "more expensive and more challenging," he added. The new 15 percent levy sealed will be "particularly unwelcome in Ireland," O'Brien told AFP. "The pharmaceutical industry is very large relative to the size of the economy, and in recent times around half of its exports have gone to the United States," he said. Pharma employs about 50 000 people and accounted for nearly half of Irish exports last year, reaching 100 billion euros, up by 30 percent year-on-year. "Ireland's problem is that it is uniquely integrated into the United States economy," said O'Brien. "There's no other European country like this. So Ireland is caught in the middle," he said. Large pharmaceutical companies, particularly American ones, also host certain patents in the country to reduce their tax burden, which then boosts the Irish tax take. Tariffs "risk strongly discouraging American companies from setting up their future factories in Ireland," said Brennan. The US could still decide to impose further tariffs on the sector following an ongoing probe into whether pharmaceutical imports pose a national security problem, he said. Tech firms with EU bases in Dublin who have also transferred part of their intellectual property rights will not be directly impacted by the imposition of tariffs on physical goods. The sector is also a "significant area of investment and employment for Ireland, but at least from a US perspective, it seems outside the scope of the tariffs," said Seamus Coffey, an economics professor at University College Cork. Beyond tariffs, tech could be affected if the United States decides to modify its tax regime to make it less attractive to set up in low-tax countries, said Andrew Kenningham, from Capital Economics.
Yahoo
a day ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ireland's 'economic miracle' at risk from tariffs
The deal between the United States and the European Union may have averted a transatlantic trade war, but worries persist in Ireland where crucial sectors are dependent on US multinationals. Attracted primarily by low corporate taxes, huge pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson, and tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta have based their European headquarters there. The US investor influx has boosted Irish tax coffers and fuelled record budget surpluses in recent years. But Trump's tariffs -- a baseline rate of 15 percent on EU exports will apply across the board -- present a stress test for the Irish economic model. Once one of western Europe's economic laggards, Ireland became known as the "Celtic Tiger" thanks to a remarkable turnaround in the 1990s. A model built on low corporate tax and an English-speaking workforce in an EU country proved seductive to foreign investors, particularly from the US. Their presence drove rampant economic growth and would later help Ireland rebound from the financial crash of 2008. The transition was an "Irish economic miracle," said Louis Brennan, professor of business studies at Trinity College Dublin. "Ireland has advanced in a matter of decades from being one of the poorest countries of northwestern Europe to being one of the most prosperous," he told AFP. Last year Ireland hiked its corporate tax rate from 12.5 to 15 percent after pressure from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but still anticipates a budget surplus of 9.7 billion euros for 2025. Ireland's "spectacular" transformation "may have been too successful because we are very dependent in many ways on American companies," says Dan O'Brien, director of the IIEA think tank in Dublin. - Pharma in frontline - Spared from the first round of Trump's tariffs, pharmaceutical companies are now being targeted by the American administration, keen to repatriate production to home soil. Earlier this month the US president threatened a 200 percent levy on the sector. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin expressed mixed feelings at Sunday's 15 percent deal, welcoming that "punitively high tariffs" were avoided. But "higher tariffs than there have been" will make transatlantic trade "more expensive and more challenging," he added. The new 15 percent levy sealed will be "particularly unwelcome in Ireland," O'Brien told AFP. "The pharmaceutical industry is very large relative to the size of the economy, and in recent times around half of its exports have gone to the United States," he said. Pharma employs about 50,000 people and accounted for nearly half of Irish exports last year, reaching 100 billion euros, up by 30 percent year-on-year. "Ireland's problem is that it is uniquely integrated into the United States economy," said O'Brien. "There's no other European country like this. So Ireland is caught in the middle," he said. Large pharmaceutical companies, particularly American ones, also host certain patents in the country to reduce their tax burden, which then boosts the Irish tax take. Tariffs "risk strongly discouraging American companies from setting up their future factories in Ireland," said Brennan. The US could still decide to impose further tariffs on the sector following an ongoing probe into whether pharmaceutical imports pose a national security problem, he said. Tech firms with EU bases in Dublin who have also transferred part of their intellectual property rights will not be directly impacted by the imposition of tariffs on physical goods. The sector is also a "significant area of investment and employment for Ireland, but at least from a US perspective, it seems outside the scope of the tariffs," said Seamus Coffey, an economics professor at University College Cork. Beyond tariffs, tech could be affected if the United States decides to modify its tax regime to make it less attractive to set up in low-tax countries, said Andrew Kenningham, from Capital Economics. ode-pmu/jkb/cw
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Ireland's 'economic miracle' at risk from tariffs
The deal between the United States and the European Union may have averted a transatlantic trade war, but worries persist in Ireland where crucial sectors are dependent on US multinationals. Attracted primarily by low corporate taxes, huge pharmaceutical firms like Pfizer, Eli Lilly, and Johnson & Johnson, and tech giants like Apple, Google, and Meta have based their European headquarters there. The US investor influx has boosted Irish tax coffers and fuelled record budget surpluses in recent years. But Trump's tariffs -- a baseline rate of 15 percent on EU exports will apply across the board -- present a stress test for the Irish economic model. Once one of western Europe's economic laggards, Ireland became known as the "Celtic Tiger" thanks to a remarkable turnaround in the 1990s. A model built on low corporate tax and an English-speaking workforce in an EU country proved seductive to foreign investors, particularly from the US. Their presence drove rampant economic growth and would later help Ireland rebound from the financial crash of 2008. The transition was an "Irish economic miracle," said Louis Brennan, professor of business studies at Trinity College Dublin. "Ireland has advanced in a matter of decades from being one of the poorest countries of northwestern Europe to being one of the most prosperous," he told AFP. Last year Ireland hiked its corporate tax rate from 12.5 to 15 percent after pressure from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), but still anticipates a budget surplus of 9.7 billion euros for 2025. Ireland's "spectacular" transformation "may have been too successful because we are very dependent in many ways on American companies," says Dan O'Brien, director of the IIEA think tank in Dublin. - Pharma in frontline - Spared from the first round of Trump's tariffs, pharmaceutical companies are now being targeted by the American administration, keen to repatriate production to home soil. Earlier this month the US president threatened a 200 percent levy on the sector. Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin expressed mixed feelings at Sunday's 15 percent deal, welcoming that "punitively high tariffs" were avoided. But "higher tariffs than there have been" will make transatlantic trade "more expensive and more challenging," he added. The new 15 percent levy sealed will be "particularly unwelcome in Ireland," O'Brien told AFP. "The pharmaceutical industry is very large relative to the size of the economy, and in recent times around half of its exports have gone to the United States," he said. Pharma employs about 50,000 people and accounted for nearly half of Irish exports last year, reaching 100 billion euros, up by 30 percent year-on-year. "Ireland's problem is that it is uniquely integrated into the United States economy," said O'Brien. "There's no other European country like this. So Ireland is caught in the middle," he said. Large pharmaceutical companies, particularly American ones, also host certain patents in the country to reduce their tax burden, which then boosts the Irish tax take. Tariffs "risk strongly discouraging American companies from setting up their future factories in Ireland," said Brennan. The US could still decide to impose further tariffs on the sector following an ongoing probe into whether pharmaceutical imports pose a national security problem, he said. Tech firms with EU bases in Dublin who have also transferred part of their intellectual property rights will not be directly impacted by the imposition of tariffs on physical goods. The sector is also a "significant area of investment and employment for Ireland, but at least from a US perspective, it seems outside the scope of the tariffs," said Seamus Coffey, an economics professor at University College Cork. Beyond tariffs, tech could be affected if the United States decides to modify its tax regime to make it less attractive to set up in low-tax countries, said Andrew Kenningham, from Capital Economics. ode-pmu/jkb/cw Sign in to access your portfolio
Finextra
2 days ago
- Business
- Finextra
Revolut kicks off recruitment drive in Western Europe
Revolut has kicked off a recruitment drive for 400+ roles in Western Europe after announcing plans to invest more than $1 billion to establish a new HQ in France over the next three years. 0 Following the recent appointment of Béatrice Cossa-Dumurgier as CEO Western Europe, Revolut is launching a major recruitment drive across the region. Over 400 roles are set to be opened in France, Spain, Italy, Ireland, Germany, and Portugal over the next few years, spanning compliance, risk management, and other key functions — with at least 200 of those roles based in France. In parallel, approximately 600 existing Revolut employees will progressively transition to the French entity once it has been established, particularly in customer support, credit, and product functions to support the development of new features, including mortgages and business loans in the region. The ramp-up intends to begin with around 80 new hires in the first year and scale to over 400 direct roles by 2029. Combined with continued operational support from the wider group, more than 1,500 employees will be dedicated to Revolut's French banking entity by the end of the decade. Further leadership team executive appointments will be announced later this summer. These recruitment efforts are taking place in parallel with Revolut's ongoing application for a banking licence in France. Cossa-Dumurgier says: 'We're already hard at work building our new Western Europe headquarters in Paris - and that comes with a major hiring push across the region. Western Europe is home to a massive pool of talent, and we intend to make the most of it - attracting top professionals eager to shape the future of banking and build the next generation of financial services.' Revolut reported bumper growth for the full year 2024, driving pre-tax profits to $1.4 billion and net profit at $1 billion. The fintech super app is reportedly in talks to raise around $1 billion at a valuation of $65 billion by issuing new shares and selling existing ones. The firm was last valued at $45 billion in 2024 after selling shares on the secondary market.
