The Galician automotive sector is going through a “crucial moment” that could mark the future of the industry in the years to come. It represents 15% of the Community’s industrial employment, with some 25,000 jobs, and 13% of GDP, with a turnover of 13,000 million euros. An essential pillar of the Galician economy, as explained by the Minister of Economy and Industry, María Jesús Lorenzana, which faces one of the great challenges of the current context: decarbonization. A necessary, even essential, but costly path towards sustainability, which not all companies, especially small ones, can cope with. It is for this reason, as reported this Monday by the head of the branch and president of the Xunta de Galicia, Alfonso Rueda, that the Council has just approved two measures of support for the sector, which, during the three The next few years will involve the disbursement of 230 million euros.
On the one hand, said the minister, the Council approved the Automotive Direct Plan this Monday. A roadmap that Xunta has prepared to give impetus to the “necessary green and digital transformation” of all ancillary companies in the automotive sector, after being very critical of the way in which the Next Generation Funds were managed to cover this transition . “We did not count on the autonomous communities,” said Lorenzana, who described as insufficient the support which “endangers this industry, in a complex framework of global competitiveness”.
The plan, he said, is based on a declaration of the automotive sector as a strategic sector in 2024 and aims to promote innovation in the sector, energy efficiency and sustainability. This is the result, he assured, of a participatory and collaborative process with the entire sector, representatives of the different value chains, employers’ organizations, SMEs, large companies, worker representatives. , etc. ; and reflects “the main conclusions of the analysis” as well as a series of concrete actions and achievable objectives that will allow “consolidating the position of Galicia as an automotive benchmark and adopting new measures that provide the necessary support in this process of transformation. As he explained, this Tuesday the draft plan will be sent to the Galician Council of Economy and Competitiveness and to the CES, for subsequent approval.
Likewise, among the 230 million planned in the plan for the next three years, a program of 72 million is included. Among them, 22 have already been launched this year, to which must be added 50 others which will be called until 2026. For next year, he indicated, the Xunta plans to “diversify and expand the potential options of “aid for the sector” in three main areas: the transition to an electric and connected mobility ecosystem; the decarbonization of all production and logistics processes and the adoption of green factory models. 90% of these 5 million come from the community’s FEDER fund, and 10% from its own funds.
There will be two support lines. The first, of 14 million, will be called this year to be executed the following year, focused on investments, innovation, research and development of energy efficiency. And the second, will be launched between March and April 2025, and will be multi-year.
