The Car­Tex­Sax ini­ti­at­ive was launched to address one of the most press­ing chal­lenges of our time: the trans­form­a­tion of Europe’s auto­mot­ive industry and its ripple effects on the tex­tile sup­ply chain in South­w­est Sax­ony. With its rich indus­tri­al her­it­age and proven expert­ise in high-per­form­ance tex­tiles, the region stands at a cross­roads between decline and rein­ven­tion.

The Challenge

For dec­ades, Saxony’s tex­tile com­pan­ies were trus­ted part­ners of Europe’s car­makers. But glob­al com­pet­i­tion, shift­ing sup­ply chains, elec­tri­fic­a­tion, and sus­tain­ab­il­ity demands have dis­rup­ted this sta­bil­ity. The once-reli­able auto­mot­ive mar­ket has become volat­ile, expos­ing sup­pli­ers to cost pres­sure, cer­ti­fic­a­tion hurdles, and shrink­ing volumes. Some long-stand­ing com­pan­ies have already dis­ap­peared; oth­ers are fight­ing for sur­viv­al.

The Findings

The Car­Tex­Sax study, led by Gherzi Ger­many, con­duc­ted in-depth ana­lyses, com­pany work­shops, and trans­fer dia­logues with industry lead­ers. The res­ults are sober­ing but also full of oppor­tun­ity:

• Auto­mot­ive is no longer enough: rely­ing solely on car interi­ors and com­pon­ents is too risky.
• The “Tier Gap” must be closed: Sax­on firms are strong at Tier 3–4 but lack access to Tier 1 and OEM con­tracts.
• Diver­si­fic­a­tion is essen­tial: growth poten­tial lies in aerospace, rail, con­struc­tion, med­ic­al tex­tiles, fil­tra­tion, and energy.
• Sus­tain­ab­il­ity is a dif­fer­en­ti­at­or: recyc­lable, cir­cu­lar, and CO₂-reduced tex­tiles are not just trends – they are becom­ing entry tick­ets to glob­al mar­kets.
• Net­works mat­ter: com­pan­ies that join alli­ances, invest in auto­ma­tion, and cooper­ate across indus­tries will sur­vive and thrive.

The Vision 2030

Car­Tex­Sax does not paint a pic­ture of decline. Instead, it pro­poses three real­ist­ic and motiv­at­ing future mod­els for com­pan­ies in the region:

These mod­els are not the­or­et­ic­al. They emerged from dir­ect dia­logues with com­pany lead­ers – voices from Mattes & Ammann, Zwis­s­TEX, Teno­wo, Nor­afin, and many oth­ers. Their mes­sage is clear: the future belongs to those who act decis­ively, invest stra­tegic­ally, and break free from out­dated depend­en­cies.

The Call to Action

Car­Tex­Sax has delivered more than a report – it has provided a wake-up call and a roadmap. The pro­ject shows that South­w­est Sax­ony can remain a hub of tex­tile innov­a­tion, but only if com­pan­ies embrace trans­form­a­tion with cour­age and speed.

This is not the end of the jour­ney. Car­Tex­Sax is the start­ing point for new European pro­jects, stra­tegic part­ner­ships, and indus­tri­al renew­al. The con­ver­sa­tion has only just begun – and the region is ready to lead it.