3 May, 2023 Webmaster

Gothenburg – home of the Swedish Automotive Industry

What is the current status of the Swedish Automotive Industry? We had a chat with Joel Görsch, Investment Advisor Automotive & Cleantech at Business Region Göteborg, BRG and member of the Advisory Board for VECS. The Swedish automotive industry has its heart in the Gothenburg region with 40,000 employees, 98 percent of the country’s passenger car industry and 50 percent of the country’s truck industry. This makes the region one of the world’s most densely populated regions per capita in terms of the development of future mobility for passenger and freight transport. Joel shared his thoughts on how Business Region Göteborg can help drive the industry forward, the journey for the transition in electrification and what is required from the Swedish OEMs and suppliers to stay on top.

 

What are your thoughts about the current status of the Swedish Automotive industry and the Gothenburg automotive cluster?

It is really exciting times for the Swedish Automotive industry! Not the least in Gothenburg where we see a lot of new investment decisions such as the Volvo Cars and Northvolt joint venture Novo Energy and the investment in cell production and R&D facilities. In the digital part we also see more and more interest from foreign companies to set up business in Gothenburg.

 

What role do you believe that Business Region Göteborg can play regarding supporting and drive the industry forward?

Business Region Göteborg is the local partner that can help companies to set up their business in our region. We can assist with information and contact to support a soft landing. One important thing, among many, is that we help companies with is with our International House that supports soft landing for competence moving to Gothenburg.

 

Are there any specific projects or investments you would like to highlight?

As mentioned before the major investment last year was of course the decision from Volvo Cars and Northvolt to establish the battery factory in Gothenburg. Another interesting establishment was that Apex.ai set up a company in Gothenburg. It looks like 2023 is going to be a good year and we are working on some interesting projects. I hope we will be able to talk about them soon.

 

What is required from the Swedish OEMs and suppliers to stay on top when it comes to innovation and development? 

I think a combination of openness towards new technologies, cooperation in between different stakeholders such as industry, academia and the public sector but also in-between companies in different value-chains.

 

What specific trends or opportunities in the industry have you seen the last 2 years?

Electrification has moved forward very strong, and I think we can see a more sober view on AD. When it comes to electrification the decision from OEM to enter the cell manufacturing is also a trend the latest years.

 

What are the key issues and obstacles that needs to be handled at the moment?

For the OEM:s I think one major thing is to keep up the pace in the transition with all its costs in a global economy that is under pressure. The journey for the transition in electrification, ADAS/AD and the rest of the digital domain has started but this a marathon and in the car business the competition not the least from China is hard.