With thirty brands, how many cars can each one actually sell?
Major automakers posted significant losses last year, with Stellantis and Nissan hit hardest, signaling deep structural challenges in the sector. Conflicting climate policies between Europe and the US, plus Chinese competitors and tariffs, create a fragmented market requiring different technological approaches by region.
- Stellantis and Nissan posted major losses in 2025; Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen cut profits sharply
- Europe bought 2.5 million fewer vehicles in 2025 than in 2019
- Nearly 30 new automotive brands have arrived in Spain or plan to in the near term
- Mazda partnered with Chinese automaker Changan to develop the Mazda 6e electric sedan
Mazda's European president describes the automotive industry as facing a 'tornado' of pressures from regulatory conflicts, Chinese competition, and geopolitical tensions, advocating for strategic alliances rather than mergers to navigate regional technology preferences.
The automotive industry is in the grip of something that looks less like a cyclical downturn and more like structural upheaval. Last year was brutal. Stellantis and Nissan posted heavy losses. Mercedes-Benz and Volkswagen, companies with century-long pedigrees, had to slash profits. Martijn ten Brink, who runs Mazda's European operations, sat down in Madrid and described what he sees with the clarity of someone watching from inside the storm: "If you look at the financial results, it's like there's a tornado out there. The market is under tremendous pressure."
The tornado has multiple vortices. Europe has committed to aggressive climate targets that demand rapid electrification. The United States, under Trump, has reversed course on the same transition, treating electric vehicles as a policy mistake rather than an inevitability. China has flooded the market with new competitors—nearly thirty brands have arrived in Spain alone or plan to soon—and they're willing to absorb losses to gain footing. On top of this sits the tariff war: America is taxing European vehicles, and Europe is responding with tariffs on Chinese EVs. Each region now wants different technological solutions, and no single manufacturer can afford to develop them all alone.
Ten Brink does not believe the answer is consolidation through mergers. Instead, he argues the industry needs to accept that long-term strategic partnerships are no longer optional—they are the future. Mazda has already moved in this direction, partnering with the Chinese automaker Changan to develop its new electric sedan, the Mazda 6e. The arrangement is pragmatic and complicated: Changan is both partner and competitor. The company landed in Spain this year and is now exploring whether to build vehicles there to sidestep the tariffs Europe has imposed on Chinese-made EVs.
The math of competition is becoming unforgiving. With thirty brands chasing market share in a single country, ten Brink asks a simple question: how many cars can each one actually sell? To succeed requires more than a nameplate. You need dealer networks, after-sales service, credibility. You need customers who trust you. The market will sort out who survives and who doesn't, but the sorting will be brutal.
Europe's car market itself has shrunk. Compared to 2019, before the pandemic, Europe bought roughly 2.5 million fewer vehicles in 2025. Spain is an exception—it's expected to finish this year near pre-pandemic levels—but the continent as a whole has not recovered. Ten Brink attributes this to multiple causes: regulatory confusion about which powertrain to buy, rising prices, and the shift to remote work that has reduced how much people drive. When he talks to European customers, he hears uncertainty. They don't know what they should purchase anymore.
On electrification itself, Mazda has taken a different path than some competitors. Ford, Mercedes-Benz, and Stellantis have all recalibrated their EV strategies in recent years, pulling back from earlier commitments. Mazda has not. The company never set a hard deadline to stop selling combustion engines in Europe, and it has resisted the temptation to make sweeping proclamations about what percentage of its fleet would be electric by a certain year. Instead, ten Brink explains, the company balanced its investments against global needs and regional requirements. It made deliberate choices rather than lurching from one direction to another. The European Commission's recent openness to allowing combustion vehicles to be sold through 2035—a concession that changes little in practical terms—has only reinforced Mazda's conviction that flexibility matters more than ideology.
What emerges from ten Brink's analysis is a portrait of an industry in transition not toward a clear destination but toward fragmentation. Different regions will pursue different technologies. Manufacturers will need partners to survive. The old model of the vertically integrated automaker doing everything itself is finished. The tornado will keep spinning, sorting winners from losers, until a new equilibrium emerges—one built on alliances, not empires.
Notable Quotes
If you look at the financial results, it's like there's a tornado out there. The market is under tremendous pressure.— Martijn ten Brink, president of Mazda Europa
It's very difficult to do everything alone, especially because different regions of the world seem to have different technology preferences, which requires significant additional investment.— Martijn ten Brink
The Hearth Conversation Another angle on the story
When you say there's a tornado, are you describing something temporary or permanent?
I think it's permanent in the sense that the old industry structure won't come back. The pressures—regulation, competition, geopolitics—they're not going away. What will change is how companies respond. Some will disappear. Others will find partners and survive.
You mentioned that Mazda hasn't recalibrated its electrification strategy like Ford or Mercedes. Why hold steady when everyone else is retreating?
Because Mazda is smaller. A smaller company can't afford to make big bets and then reverse them. You have to think through the decision carefully and then commit. Bigger companies have the cash to change course; Mazda doesn't.
But doesn't that leave you vulnerable if the market shifts again?
Possibly. But the alternative—chasing every policy signal from Washington or Brussels—is worse. You end up with no strategy at all, just reaction.
You mentioned thirty brands in Spain. How many of those will actually survive?
That's the market's question to answer, not mine. But I'd guess most won't. You need scale, service, trust. Those things take years to build. Most of these brands won't have the patience or the capital.
So partnerships aren't just smart—they're necessary for survival?
For a company like Mazda, yes. We can't develop every powertrain for every region alone. Changan helps us reach China and develop electric vehicles. Without that partnership, we're stuck.