When Europe announced the need of a “rearme”hardly someone could have guessed the sector that has seen in the proposal a formula to put the leg: the engine. First it was Germany Through the Almighty Rheinmetall, the largest defense contractor in the nation. Things are so quite well that it has set the car industry and its factories to continue producing armament without rest. Even Volkswagen is in the equation. Now the turn of Spain has reached. Industrial conversion. I told it This week five days. Before the structural stagnation of the European automobile sector, several Spanish component companies have begun to look towards the defense industry as a path of diversification (and survival). The first of these stops takes us to the Basque Country, where Teknia (Basque manufacturer of car components) has been one of the first actors to openly manifest Your interest in manufacturing pieces For military applications, in a context where, as we said, Europe is in full Rearme process motivated by Russian threat and Strategic distancing of the United States. The company argues that, while the automotive has been excluded from the group of strategic sectors in Europe, defense and aerospace They have received that recognitionwhich, added to the regulatory hardening and the fall in the demand for vehicles, forces to explore new opportunities for Keep facilities alive industrialists From the civil vehicle to the military. The newspaper explained something we already said weeks ago. The transition from the automotive sector to the military is, in many cases, technically and logistically viable. The reasoning is clear: the armies also use vehicles, and many of the technologies of forming, stamping or injection applicable in the automotive They can easily adapt to the production of military units, whether trucks, armored or mobile logistics systems. This logic is backed by cases such as Ivecocompany with two floors in Spain, which already has a division dedicated exclusively to the defense business. For the Spanish Government, the use of its large ecosystem of suppliers of automotive components appears as a Fast and efficient route to climb your productive capacity in military. Germany as an epicenter. And here we return to the beginning of everything. As we explain In mid -March, in Germany this industrial reconversion process is in a more advanced stage. Rheinmetall, one of the main European arms groups, has expressed interest in The plant that Volkswagen It has in Osnabrück, affected by a drastic restructuring. In 2024, the automobile group announced the Elimination of 35,000 jobs and one Reduction of its capacity Annual production in Germany, which will go from 734,000 vehicles to a substantially lower figure by 2030. Rheinmetalll in full. This setback in the German industry coincides with the stock market of Rheinmetall, whose actions are They have revalued 122.2% So far this year, promoted by the urgency of European rearmament before The Russian threat and Berlin’s commitment to increase your investment In defense. The paradox is revealing: the industrial wound of the heart from Europe could cater thanks to Geopolitical fear already one New arms race. Employment, production and integration. It is another leg that explains the movement. The defense industry not only represents an alternative of economic sustainability for automotive companies (now in Spain), but also offers a Multiplier effect in terms of employment and technological development. Explained in five days that an eloquent example is that of CMBDA European Onsorciospecialized in missile systems, which has significantly increased its workforce: it hired 2,600 people in 2024, reaching The 19,000 employeesand plans to add another 2,500 hiring in the current exercise. Despite its presence in many of the great European economies, MBDA still does not have plants in Spain, although its CEO seems to have made it clear that this could change, which underlines the country’s appeal in the new industrial map of the European defense. Structural transformation. Thus, what is at stake is not a simple business diversification, but something more similar to a structural transformation that could alter the nature of the European industry. The conversion of plants, the reuse of existing technical capacities and the reorientation of human resources could allow the countries of the European Union not only to strengthen their strategic autonomy in defense, but also keep alive industrial structures otherwise, they would run the risk of deteriorating with the decline of traditional automotive. No doubt, this evolution is not exempt from challenges, but offers a pragmatic response to the slowdown of a sector in crisis and the urgency of a continental reload. From the car to artillery. It is still an industrial paradigm. What in another context could have been a without exit crisis, it is currently emerging as a window of opportunity. At a time when European security is again in the Political agenda centereven with unusual ads collection for 72 hoursand when the economic model based on the private car It seems to lose pushthe reconversion of the automotive sector Towards defense It appears as a realistic, productive and politically viable solution. They said it in The five -day report Through the implicit words of the sector: it does not matter if the machinery manufactures a chassis for a sedan or a structure for a armored. Here the essential thing is that it continues to work. Thus, from the ashes of the engine, a new industry can flourish, although this time at the service of European sovereignty. Image | Tekniagroup, Rheinmetall Defense In Xataka | The “rearme” of Europe has begun in a Volkswagen factory in Germany: instead of cars they will produce tanks In Xataka | Europe before its time of truth: we have entered the era of “rearme” and the EU has a plan not to be behind
