registrations and it will increase into over 30 percent in 2018. Particularly popular are the mid-sized models. The popularity of new diesel vehicles has been slowly decreasing during the 2010’s – 30%.
in 2017 versus 49 percent in 2008 of all new registrations. Among the used diesel vehicles, the sales percentage has been steadily rising – 27,5 percent in 2017 of all sold used personal vehicles. The percentage of hybrid and electric vehicles are still very marginal – 4 and 0,5 percent of newly registered vehicles in 2017. Personal vehicles with automatic transmission are becoming more popular every year. In 2017 as much as 51 percent (34 percent in 2012) of the total amount of personal vehicles were with automatic transmission, 35 percent with manual (59 percent in 2012) and 14 percent with shiftless transmission (7 percent in 2012).
The most important factors for choosing and buying a new car for Finns are driving characteristics, appearance, durability, driving comfort, standard of equipment, and collision safety. Due to weather conditions, the best sales prospects for automotive parts and accessories are all kinds of devices that improve traffic safety.
The sales of original equipment manufacturers’ (OEM’s) automotive parts and accessories are closely related to the sales of automobiles of these manufacturers. Since the market share of sold U.S. made new cars in Finland is not significant, the same applies to automotive parts and accessories.
Currently, imports of personal vehicles from the United States are about 1 percent of total car imports. U.S.-made products, such as steering systems, brake systems and parts, transmission systems, chassis and body parts have some sales potential in Finland. Alloy wheels, accessories, chemicals and lubricants also have market potential in Finland.
As the market is developing, local experts mostly agree that next products with increasing demand in Finland will be ATV (All-Terrain-Vehicle) aftermarket products. Now, there are only a handful of dealers who sell ATV equipment and supplies. Sales of products such as winches, tires and rims, and spare parts and supplies are expected to increase in the years to come.
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Czech republic
For More Information about exporting to Finland contact:
Tommi Venemies
Commercial Assistant
U.S. Embassy Copenhagen, Denmark
+358-9-6162-5291
Finland and Estonia partnered from 2017 to 2020 for a Gulf of Finland airspace project (GOF U-Space), part of the Europe wide SESAR JU project (Single European Sky Air Traffic Management Research Joint Undertaking), which has ties to the U.S. FAA led NextGen modernization project of America's air transportation system. The GOF U-Space project is coordinated by the Robots Expert Finland Ltd., a local drone consultation company. The purpose of the project is to allow aerial drone operations to be conducted in large scale.
Under the GOF U-Space project, the U.S. company Wing conducted aerial drone test deliveries in the harsh conditions of Finland. As the GOF U-Space project has the backing of the Finnish Transport and Communications Authority Traficom, it provides a good platform for developing, testing and launching parts, products and services that will be compliant Europe-wide as the new Air Traffic Management systems are developed and adopted for large-scale, Europe-wide use.
As a high-tech high-income country, Finland has a relatively large number of aerial drone owners compared to the size of the population. However, the harsh conditions with strong gusts and cold temperatures demand a lot from the drones granting premium products the best chance to succeed. Many organizations from different industries have adopted aerial drones as tools and are increasingly procuring more of them. Land and sea drone markets are rather untapped, but also smaller in size compared to the aerial drone market.
Robotics
In 2015, the International Federation of Robotics ranked Finland ninth on its list of countries with the highest number of industrial robots per 10,000 people employed in manufacturing. Per a study in 2019, 7 percent of the Finnish workforce works with robots. With the 2019 work force estimate, this means about 170,000 workers. Outside of the manufacturing industry, robotics are slowly adopted in industries such as healthcare, education and customer service, with individual procurements valued between $0.5 million to $10 million.
Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS)
ITS are a combination of electronic, detection, transport telematics and a management systems, which request advanced and diversified technologies. These technologies are not available in the Czech market. For example, Prague’s traffic violation detection system consists of 108 cameras, of which 58 were delivered by American Dynamics Company. Delivering the most advanced parts of ITS is a great opportunity for technologically advances exporters.
Major ITS projects are to be implemented on municipal, national or regional levels. Information on these projects can be found at relevant institutions. On the EU level, these are ERTICO-ITS Europe https://ertico.com/ or EUREKA www.eurekanetwork.org. Czech equivalents of these institutions are CDV / Transport Research Centre established by the Czech Ministry of Transport, Association for Transport Telematics or Centre of Vehicles for Sustainable Mobility, a part of the Czech Technical University focused on R&D in alternative propulsions (see their web pages below).
An example of one of the latest and the most advanced ITS projects is being realized in Austria. Siemens Mobility supplies a connected vehicles system for Austrian highways to allow an exchange of information between vehicles and the road. Austrian ASFiNAG will be the first infrastructure provider in Europe to install this system. There is a good chance of replications throughout the EU and any references from the US would be commercially viable.
Electromobility
Electromobility is often considered both a challenge and an opportunity. It is expected that electric engines will replace combustion within this generation. If so, electric cars need sophisticated batteries but they need less parts, less maintenance and generally are less difficult to manufacture. That might be a challenge for traditional car manufacturing companies in the Czech Republic. The automotive industry represents the backbone of the national economy and any slowdown would be heavily reflected. In addition, with more than 90 percent of Czech automotive companies foreign owned, there is a risk that foreign investors cancel local production or move to other destinations. Therefore, the Czech Government pays high attention to Electromobility and its impacts on local manufacturers.
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