The Production of Motor Vehicles in Austria Regional and Sectoral Aspects

Even in the recent past, motor vehicle production (including motorbike production) in Austria has developed very successfully: since the turn of the millennium, its nominal turnover has more than doubled and its workforce has increased by more than a quarter to almost 40,000 employees. In many respects, the industry is highly concentrated, in terms of products (motor vehicles and engines as well as "other parts"), in terms of its supply links (85 percent of domestic production is destined for export, around 70 percent of inputs are imported) and regionally in terms of domestic production locations (around half of the workforce is located in five districts – two in Upper Austria and three in Styria; in these districts, there is also a high dependency of members of individual professions on motor vehicle production). This concentration, as well as the dominance of international car brand manufacturers as customers for domestic car component suppliers, creates a potentially problematic dependency on international trends and players.