Overview of Portuguese Auto Parts Industry
Currently there are about 180 auto parts manufacturers in Portugal, with a total of 40,400 employees (representing 5.6% of the total employment in the manufacturing industry sector of Portugal). The local auto parts industry is highly concentrated and the combined production value of top 10 manufacturers is about 50% of the production value of the entire industry.
To view from the origins of corporate investments, 51.1% of the manufacturers are foreign owned enterprises including Visteon, Delphi, and Bosch, while 49.9% of them are domestic owned enterprises. To view from the product categories, most of them are metallic parts (31.8%), electrical parts (29.3%), plastic & outer casing parts (19.5%), and etc.
About 80% of the products made by Portuguese auto parts industry are for export. And, also benefited by the stimulus plan of the local government to attract foreign investments, the development of Portuguese auto parts industry has been growing rapidly and has been one of the critical industries that support the economy of Portugal. However, the industry is also faced with some dilemmas: 1) Over reliance on foreign investment and insufficient capability of R&D; 2) Dual pressures from declining demand and lack of capital; 3) Emergence of bottlenecks for the development of traditional industries.
