We're asking the wrong question about Europe's automotive industry.

I recently came across the argument that perhaps Europe should simply accept that the automotive industry belongs elsewhere.

After all, we moved on from coal mining.

We moved on from steel.

We moved on from telephone switches.

Perhaps it's time to move on from cars as well.

I don't think the comparison is quite right.

Industries evolve.

Some activities disappear.

Others create far more value than the ones they replace.

The challenge is recognising which is which.

To me, one of those future value pools is autonomous driving.

Not simply building robotaxis.

That is difficult enough.

The bigger challenge will be operating a transport system in which autonomous vehicles interact safely with human drivers, cyclists, pedestrians, emergency vehicles and each other.

Nobody has solved that yet.

Not in Europe.

Not in China.

Not in the United States.

That means one of the biggest opportunities in the next generation of mobility has not yet been won.

Rather than asking what comes after the automotive industry, perhaps we should ask which parts of the automotive industry will create the most value over the next twenty years.

Those are not necessarily the same question.