In the first three quarters of this year, domestic automotive companies produced a total of 1,097,257 passenger vehicles, i.e. 7.8 % more than in the same period last year. The one million vehicle production mark was broken again in September, but this time by a significantly higher margin than last year. Other segments also showed an increase in production: trucks +16.9 % (1,121 units), motorcycles +45.1 % (823 units) and large trailers over 3.5t +15.3 % (1,550 units). Electric vehicles accounted for 9.7 % of total production, with a total of 106,823 electric vehicles produced by the end of September, of which 80,182 were pure electric and 26,641 were plug-in hybrids.
"The ability to maintain the growing volume of vehicle production, despite the current difficult situation in production planning, is a success for companies in the car industry and clearly good news for the entire domestic economy. However, it cannot be taken as something automatic. It is necessary not only to take measures to maintain competitive production in the Czech Republic and the EU, but also to limit unintended regulatory interventions in the market. This is particularly the case when it comes to dealing with the sharp increase in emission targets from 2025, when the share of electric vehicles on European markets remains below expectations. Failure to find a solution would lead to massive penalties in the hundreds of billions of crowns for car manufacturers and further weaken their position against global competition," Says Martin Jahn, President of the Automotive Industry Association.
Passenger vehicles
In the first nine months of this year, 1,097,257 passenger vehicles were produced in the Czech Republic, i.e. 7.8 % more than in the same period of the previous year. Electric vehicles produced 106,762 units in the period and their share in domestic car production fell to 9.7 %. A total of 80,121 pure battery electric (BEV) and 26,641 plug-in hybrid (PHEV) vehicles were produced. A total of 74,977 vehicles, i.e. 6.8 % of the total produced, were destined for the domestic market. A total of 1,022,280 passenger cars, or over 93 % of production, were destined for foreign markets. Vehicle exports thus recorded a year-on-year increase of 8.8%, while domestic sales declined by 4.1%.
Škoda Auto, the largest domestic carmaker, produced 673,080 passenger cars (+6.2 %) at its domestic plants in January-September. 61,671 vehicles (-4.1 %) were placed on the Czech market, while 611,409 vehicles (+7.3 %) were sent to foreign markets. 64,600 electric vehicles (battery BEVs and plug-in hybrid PHEVs) were produced by Škoda Auto, i.e. 9.6 % of the brand's total production. Of these, 54,612 were pure battery vehicles and 9,988 were plug-in hybrids.
The Hyundai plant in Nosovice also performed in similar ranges as in the same period last year. It produced a total of 253,450 vehicles in the first three quarters, i.e. 0.3 % less than in the same period last year. A total of 242,125 vehicles were exported (-0.4 %) and 11,325 were allocated to the domestic market (+1.2 %). Of the total number of vehicles produced, 25,509 were pure electric and 16,653 were plug-in hybrid. Overall, electric vehicles thus accounted for 16.6 % of total production.
Cologne-based Toyota recorded higher year-on-year production figures at a total of 170,727 vehicles produced, 31.7 % vehicles more than in the same period last year, which was affected by a series of shutdowns caused by a shortage of some parts for production. A total of 168 746 vehicles were exported (+32.9 %) and 1981 (-26.4 %) were registered domestically. Almost half of the production was the Yaris HV hybrid model.
Buses
In the first three quarters, 3,219 buses were produced in the Czech Republic (-11.8 %), 643 buses were destined for the domestic market (+125.6 %), the remaining 3,518 were exported (-3.4 %). Iveco CR in Vysoké Mýto produced 2,929 buses. A total of 3,445 buses went abroad (-0.3 %) and 426 units (+86.8 %) were sold domestically. In the first nine months of this year, SOR Libchavy produced 264 buses, i.e. 15.3 % more than last year, of which 217 (+280.7 %) were destined for the domestic market and 47 (-72.7 %) buses of this brand went abroad. The manufacturer KHMC produced 24 buses during the period, all of which were destined for export.
Trucks
Tatra Trucks, which is the only manufacturer of trucks among the members of the Association of the Automotive Industry, produced 1,121 vehicles in the first three quarters of this year, i.e. 162 more than in the same period last year (i.e. +16.9 %). Tatra's production of more than 57 % was directed to foreign markets, while 461 vehicles (43 %) were sold on the domestic market.
Motorcycles
Jawa produced 823 motorcycles in the first nine months of the year, 256 more than in the previous year (+45.1 %). 359 motorcycles of this brand were placed on the Czech market (+48.3 %), 464 machines were exported (+42.8 %).
Trailers
The trailer segment recorded an overall year-on-year decline. Between January and September, 13,935 trailers and semi-trailers of all sizes were produced, i.e. 1,027 fewer than last year (-6.9 %). In terms of volume, the majority of production was handled by Agados, a company specialising in small trailers up to 3.5 t. It produced 12,385 units (-9.1 %), sold 6,725 units in the Czech Republic (-10.5 %) and 5,200 units abroad (-8.5 %).
In the category of large trailers and semi-trailers there was a year-on-year increase in production by 15.3 % to a total of 1,550 units. Schwarzmüller produced 1,160 large trailers, 20.7 % more than last year. The Czech Republic sold 161 units (-72.4 %), while 1008 units (+9.8 %) were sold abroad. The Czech company Panav also performed well, producing 387 trailers and semi-trailers, 2.1 1 % more than in the previous year. It placed 278 trailers on the domestic market (-14.5 %) and 52 trailers abroad (+44.4 %).
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