Production of passenger cars in the Czech Republic in the first four months of this year increased by 34 percent year on year to 453,385 cars. Last year, however, it was shut down from mid-March and in April due to coronavirus. Compared to 2019, this year’s production was lower by 7.4 percent, in the first quarter it was 8.6 percent. According to the Association of the Automotive Industry.
According to the executive director of the association, Zdeněk Petzl, the development of production confirms the continuing interest in Czech vehicles in a situation where sales in the main European markets remain almost a quarter below pre-crisis values.
The largest carmaker, Škoda Auto, produced 305,305 cars, an increase of 40 percent. At the same time, it is only 1.6 percent less than in the same period in 2019. In April, it produced 80,190 cars, thus outpacing the pre-crisis production volume by 1.5 percent. Nošovice’s Hyundai increased production by 37 percent to 90,400 vehicles, and 57,680 cars were produced in Toyota, Cologne, from January to April, an increase of 8.4 percent. Of the total number of passenger cars produced, 42,732 were electric. This corresponds to a share of total production of 9.4 percent.
“The situation remains difficult. Carmakers are struggling with a shortage of semiconductors, and production is also affected by a shortage of raw materials, and the associated significant increase in their prices. The current situation means the need for continuous interventions in the production plan and outages of deliveries of some combinations or models.
Bus production increased by 7.2 percent to 1,424 vehicles, which is 8.9 percent less than the year before. Vysokomýtské Iveco produced 1,294 buses, ie 9.8 percent more year-on-year, SOR Libchavy recorded a year-on-year decrease of 13.9 percent to 124 buses.
The only motorcycle manufacturer Jawa from Týnec nad Sázavou produced 361 machines, which meant an increase of 167.4 percent after last year’s decline.