Record number of participants at the Lower Austrian Motor Vehicle Industry Day: New opportunities through AI!

Record number of participants at the Lower Austrian Motor Vehicle Industry Day: New opportunities through AI!

The “Day of the Lower Austrian Motor Vehicle Industry” in Göttweig Abbey invited the industry to network and exchange ideas and set a new participation record: 180 entrepreneurs from the vehicle trade and vehicle technology sector gathered to discuss the latest trends and challenges. According to the Lower Austria Chamber of Commerce Wolfgang Schirak, chairman of the Lower Austrian state vehicle trade committee, and Gerald Kisser, state guild master of Lower Austrian vehicle technology, emphasized how important cross-industry exchange is.

An exciting point was the presentation of the new AI tool “Lisa”, which was developed specifically for the automotive industry. Shirak also ventured a forecast: He expects an increase in new vehicle registrations for 2023, even if these numbers remain below the pre-Corona level. Currently, around one in five new registrations in Austria is an electric vehicle, but market penetration remains below expectations.

Electromobility on the rise

Electromobility is finding its way around the world, and not without reason. According to a recent report by Car Motor and Sport Over 5.9 million electric cars were newly registered internationally in the first half of 2025 - an impressive increase of 37% compared to the previous year. The main driver of this development is China, where new registrations have increased to around 3.7 million vehicles. In Europe, an increase of 25% to around 1.2 million BEVs was recorded over the same period.

A similar picture emerges in Austria: in 2023, the number of electric vehicles rose to around 244,000, including over 155,500 passenger cars with electric drives. This corresponds to three percent of the entire vehicle fleet Statista shows. The popularity of e-mobility remains unbroken, even if sales figures fall short of expectations.

Market developments and challenges

The experts at the “Lower Austrian Motor Vehicle Industry Day” also discussed developments in the apprenticeship system and the use of emission-free drive technologies and autonomous driving. The number of apprentices in Lower Austrian automotive technology rose from 1,612 in 2021 to 1,799 in 2024, which corresponds to an increase of 11.6%. The increase in female apprentices is particularly pleasing, increasing by a whopping 68.2% to 111.

But not everything is going smoothly. Shirak pointed out that price pressure and overproduction in China threaten to also have a negative impact on the European market. There are currently over 100 vehicle manufacturers active there, and experts estimate that only around 10 to 20 of these companies will survive in the long term.

A look at future developments shows that markets are becoming increasingly fragmented and challenges from political measures such as tariffs are affecting the international supply chain. Nevertheless, the prospect of further growth in the area of ​​electromobility remains optimistic, both in Austria and worldwide.