So says IHS as it reports that the automotive sector is one of those offering major growth opportunities as Western Europe returns to growth.

The findings are from a multi-sector study carried out by IHS Inc and released at its IHS Forum in Berlin.

According to IHS Automotive forecasts, by 2018/2019, Europe will overtake North America to be the second largest light vehicle sales market in the world. The 21 million light vehicle units sold in Europe will be second only to China.

IHS Automotive forecasts European production volumes will grow by 21 percent by 2020, on par with a 19 percent increase in European export volumes.

‘Despite increasing competitiveness in the global marketplace, Germany will be the biggest light vehicle market in Europe until the end of the decade,’ said Carlos DaSilva, manager at IHS Automotive.

‘By 2020, Germany will have increased its light vehicle production output by 17 percent, approximately 840,000 units, while other major European markets, like France, UK, Italy and Spain will see their output decrease or remain flat,’ he said.

Mario Franjicevic, a senior analyst at IHS Automotive, added: ‘By 2020, German OEMs are anticipated to be responsible for 70% of the global production output of premium brands. We also anticipate that by 2020 German OEMs will have an estimated global plant capacity utilisation of about 88% compared to an 80% global industry average estimate.’