Disclosure of electric mobility in annual reports of automotive companies: Risks, strategies, and environment

This chapter intends to use the narrative section of annual reports to investigate the role of electric mobility from the perspective of automobile companies. Because the electric mobility market is new and rapidly evolving, it may be of interest to investigate the vision communicated in the narrative section of annual reports of car manufacturers. As noted by the European Automobile Manufacturers Association in a press release on 5 February 2015 (www.acea.be), in 2014, approximately 75,000 new electric vehicles (EV) were registered in the European Union, a growth rate of 37% in comparison to the previous year. The largest increment is observed in the UK (+ 300%), followed by Germany (+ 70%), and France (+ 30%). In the EFTA (European
Free Trade Association) countries, Norway is at the top, with approximately 20,000 new registrations, which is more than double the EVs registered in 2013 (+ 141%). Table 10.1 shows the total registration of EVs in 2014, with differences in comparison with the previous year. This explorative analysis focuses on the following aspects of the EV market: risks, strategies, and environmental impact. In addition, an analysis of the relation between economic performance and the disclosure of electric mobility in annual reports is conducted. For the empirical analysis, we used a sample of major automobile manufacturers active in the European market. This chapter draws upon legitimacy theory to develop one testable hypothesis. The research method is based on the thematic content analysis (Krippendorff, 2013; Weber, 1988) applied to the narrative section of annual reports (Beattie et al., 2004). This section of annual reports increased in importance in recent years to satisfy the information needs of several stakeholders (IASB, 2010; IIRC, 2013; Teodori and Veneziani, 2013, Scaltrito 2016). The chapter continues with a literature review, followed by the electric mobility aspects investigated and the research method. Thereafter, the results of the empirical analysis are presented, followed by the conclusions.