History

1989 – 17 companies signed an agreement on the Association of Automobile Industry Organizations (currently operating as an association without legal personality within the Institute for Motor Vehicle Research); Ludvík Kalma, director of MOTOR JIKOV České Budějovice, was elected the first chairman of the Board of Directors at the founding meeting (June 27, 1989).

1991 – The Association of the Automotive Industry acquires legal personality. Its representatives were at the birth of the Union of Industry and Transport of the Czech Republic and the Chamber of Commerce of the Czech Republic. The association also joined international structures and became, among other things, a full member of the international organization of automobile manufacturers OICA.

1992 – Ing. was elected chairman of the Board of Directors of the Association. Vlastimil Devera, CEO of AVIA Prague. At that time, the association already had more than 40 members.

1993 – after the division of Czechoslovakia, Slovak companies found the Association of the Automobile Industry of the Slovak Republic.

1994 – The Association of Automobile Importers is separated from the Association and the Association of Automobile Importers with legal personality is established. 1994 is the worst year for total motor vehicle production since 1989; only 190,651 motor vehicles were produced in the Czech Republic.

1997 – Vratislav Kulhánek becomes the third president of the Association of the Automotive Industry while still a director of the company ROBERT BOSCH in České Budějovice. The position of president as chairman of the board of directors of ŠKODA AUTO a.s. performed until 2007.

1998 – the number of members of the Automobile Industry Association exceeds 100; motor vehicle production exceeded 400,000 units for the first time.

2002 – The Association of the Automotive Industry becomes a member of ACEA.

2005 – production of passenger cars started at TPCA Czech Kolín, the Association already has more than 140 members, in which 115 thousand employees work.

2008 – the effects of the economic recession begin to show, after a long time a total decrease in production and export was recorded; nevertheless, a record 948,128 motor vehicles were produced in the Czech Republic; at the end of the year, production of passenger cars started at HMMC Nošovice.

2009 – Europe and the world are facing an economic recession, the domestic automotive industry is also affected by the drop in demand for new vehicles. The Association of the Automotive Industry is celebrating 20 years of existence.

2010 – we continue further, activities expand. The association is involved in the Technological Platform project “Vehicles for Sustainable Mobility” and the “AutoAdapt” project. The production of motor vehicles crossed the million mark for the first time and reached the value of 1,077,166 units produced.

2016 – The Association of the Automotive Industry changes its legal form to an association and is significantly modernized overall, there is a personnel change and a change of headquarters. The long-time president Martin Jahn (2007 – 20016) is replaced at the head of the Association by Bohdan Wojnar. At the same time, 2016 brought an all-time record for vehicle production. 1.35 million motor vehicles were produced and member sales exceeded CZK 1 billion for the first time.

2017 – AutoSAP managed to sign an essential Memorandum with the government on the future of the automotive industry in the Czech Republic, containing 25 specific measures to maintain competitiveness. The production of motor vehicles in the Czech Republic exceeded 1.4 million units for the first time in history and exceeded the result of the record year 2016 by more than 5%.