Another country’s automotive industry suffering losses

More than 250 thousand fewer automotive products were manufactured this year in The Czech Republic, causing an estimated 200 billion koruna loss for the Czech automotive industry.

The announcement makes it known that in the first nine months of the year, the car companies of The Czech Republic produced exactly 831 653 passenger cars, 2.9 percent more than in 2020, before having to close the factories for a month because of the Covid-19 epidemic. Compared to 2019, a 22 percent decline in production was observed.

„The problem of the global absence of semiconductors even exceeds the negative consequences of 2020’s outages. While during the summer we were hoping the market would be back to normal by the end of the year, the developments of recent months made it clear, how that would not be the case. Because of the deficit of chips, The Czech Republic could not finish about 250 thousand cars. Suppliers and factories alike experienced losses, 120 billion for car factories, and 80 billion for suppliers.” – points out Zdenek Petzl, executive director of the alliance.

At Monday’s reconciling conference, the Czech alliance of the automotive industry is planning to ask the government for support. The affected companies need assistance, in order to preserve working places and ensure the survival of firms.

From the car factories of The Czech Republic, Hyundai is standing in the best position so far. The production of Hyundai grew by 26,8 percent in the first three quarters of the year, to 207 300 cars. Skoda Auto produced 514 309 vehicles, 3,7 percent less than in 2020. Toyota factory’s production fell back by 0,5 percent, to 110 044 cars.

Czech bus- and lorry factories are struggling with similar issues. The Jawa motorcycle factory, on the other hand, is fairing quite well. In the first nine months, it produced 811 motorcycles, 432 more than a year ago.