India, March 4 -- Once a dominant force, the European automotive industry has been seeing signs of a slowdown as automakers in Asia, especially China, have evolved and brought competition to their domestic market.

In what can be seen as a call for action, Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, has asked to "secure the future of the car industry in Europe".

"For example, we have agreed that we need a big push in software and hardware for autonomous driving. We know that global competition is fierce. So we have to act big and we have to be big. Scale on this topic matters, more than ever before. That is why we have agreed that we will set up and support an industry alliance. Companies will be able to pool resources. ...