Auto Pulse Europe

Customer retention is becoming the most powerful growth driver in automotive. Learn how customer lifetime value is reshaping sales, finance, and dealership profitability.

Chinese automakers now hold over 10% of Europe’s market. As competition intensifies, the EU faces a critical choice: protect its automotive industry or risk losing it.

CCD II is reshaping automotive finance across Europe. The UK’s recent motor finance crisis offers a clear warning of what happens when firms underestimate outcomes-based regulation.

China perfected its automotive strategy with BYD and CATL. Now, COMAC is applying the same playbook to aviation, challenging Airbus and Boeing on a global stage.

Extended Range Electric Vehicles are booming in China and re-entering the European conversation. Could petrol-powered range extenders help accelerate EV adoption — or complicate the transition?

Electric vehicle residual values are reshaping auto ABS markets. As EV depreciation becomes harder to predict, lenders and investors are rethinking how residual value risk affects automotive finance and securitisation.

The UK motor finance redress scheme highlights the true cost of non-compliance. As CCD II approaches across Europe, auto finance providers must rethink governance, affordability checks and commission structures.

The word “partnership” is now used so freely that it risks meaning nothing at all. A reflection on corporate language inflation and the value of clarity in business relationships.

From a European perspective, the world may appear to be rapidly electrifying. The reality is more complex: approximately 75% of global passenger-car sales remain internal-combustion.

Norway has achieved near-total EV adoption. For the EU5 - Germany, the UK, France, Italy and Spain - the challenge is not whether to electrify, but how to adapt Norway’s model at scale.

We have more information than ever, yet trust has never been scarcer. As AI reshapes business, the human ability to build trust through empathy and expertise becomes the ultimate advantage.

Too many sales conversations begin with a solution instead of a diagnosis. In automotive retail, L.A.E.R. - Listen, Acknowledge, Explore, Respond - creates trust, value and long-term loyalty.

The era of predictable five-year cycles is over. In 2026, agility becomes the automotive industry’s defining currency - from AI and cybersecurity to China and sub-€25k EVs.

As products and finance become increasingly commoditised, customer experience has become the final true differentiator in automotive retail - and regulation is accelerating the shift.

Automotive retail is entering its next competitive era. AI voice agents are changing customer expectations, compressing response times and reshaping how dealers convert leads and retain loyalty.

As Europe approaches 2026, its automotive industry stands at a defining crossroads. Electrification mandates, Chinese competition and structural economic pressures are reshaping the future of European manufacturing.

Trade Cycle Management is re-emerging as a defining strategy in automotive finance. In 2025, AI, circular economy principles and data-driven lifecycle control are reshaping how OEMs and captives drive retention and profitability.

Europe’s automotive industry faces mounting pressure from accelerated electrification targets and surging Chinese competition. With 13 million jobs tied to the sector, regulatory flexibility may prove decisive for Europe’s industrial future.