14/11/2025 |Articles are machine translated
This year’s eighth edition of CEE Automotive Supply Chain 2025 took place in Olomouc.
How to keep Central and Eastern Europe attractive for business in times of energy uncertainty, regulatory pressures and geopolitical changes? What do supplier companies need to be able to face competition, especially from Chinese manufacturers? These were not the only questions the participants of the eighth annual CEE Automotive Supply Chain conference were looking for answers to. The event was organized by the Association of the Automotive Industry of the Czech Republic in cooperation with the Slovak Association of the Automotive Industry.
The eighth annual CEE Automotive Supply Chain conference, the largest meeting of automotive suppliers in the Czech Republic and Slovakia, took place in Olomouc on November 4-5, 2025. The event attracted more than 350 participants from companies, trade associations and European institutions, who discussed current challenges and new opportunities in a time of geopolitical changes and growing regulatory demands, especially in the field of electromobility.
The opening panel on the economic and geopolitical situation made a clear statement: Europe is losing its breath. Martin Jahn, member of the board of directors of Škoda Auto and president of the Association of the Automotive Industry, pointed out in the opening block that rising energy prices, complex regulation and a lack of qualified labor are becoming key obstacles to development. In addition to solving these problems, the Czech Republic should focus more on technical education and supporting applied research.
Jahn’s Slovak counterpart Alexander Matušek, president of the Association of the Automotive Industry of the Slovak Republic, said that the situation is similar in Slovakia, where companies are struggling not only with high energy costs but also with the outflow of technically educated young people abroad.
Jahn, Matušek, Vondra and Tůma on European competitiveness, expensive energy and the need for greater flexibility and cooperation in Central Europe.
Both agreed on the need for more flexible labor legislation, support for innovation, and more efficient use of European funds. Broader cooperation between the two countries and, by extension, within the V4 would also benefit.
The need to reconsider industrial policy was highlighted by Zdeněk Tůma, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of ČSOB and former Governor of the Czech National Bank, who said that Europe has a structural problem related to demography and excessive dependence on the German economy. Nevertheless, he said that the Central European region remains a “stable pillar” that has always managed to adapt despite crises.
The political dimension was brought into the debate by MEP Alexandr Vondra, who criticized the European Commission for its “pride”. He stressed that Europe cannot think that it can dictate the pace of the green transformation to the world. It should act more realistically and end the overregulation that weakens business on the old continent.
Martin Jahn recalled the “Draghi Report”, which deals with the weakening of the European economy compared to the USA and China and proposes a number of measures to support innovation, strategic investments and a more coordinated industrial policy in the EU so that Europe can cope with new global challenges. In addition, he called for a reconsideration of those measures that make it difficult for business.
Alexandr Vondra also mentioned the urgent need for European companies in the automotive sector to obtain one of the basic commodities for production, namely rare earths. Instead of relying on China, sources should be sought in Africa or Latin America. But this is primarily a political issue.
Martin Jahn added that Europe also needs to ensure its own production of battery cells for electric cars. The problem, however, is that such production in Europe cannot be profitable at current energy prices. According to the speakers, one of the first tasks for the new government will therefore be a rapid response in the energy sector – especially since our closest neighbor, Germany, is planning to massively subsidize energy.
The next part of the conference focused on the future development of the automotive industry in connection with the need to revise CO2 emission targets from the perspective of end-users in the automotive sector.
Robert Kiml, President of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic and Vice President of the Association of the Automotive Industry of the Czech Republic, emphasized the importance of technological neutrality – according to him, Europe should support various paths to decarbonization, not impose one solution. In addition to batteries, a hydrogen-burning engine should also be given a chance. Every customer must be able to choose the drive that suits them.
Robert Kiml from Toyota Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic emphasizes the need for technological neutrality – Europe should support various paths to decarbonization, give space to the hydrogen combustion engine, and let customers choose the drive.
David Kříž, CEO of Iveco Czech Republic, also holds a similar opinion. He pointed out that uniform regulation cannot apply equally to all segments – while electrification of city buses makes sense, it has not yet been economically or technically promoted for tourist buses and trucks. Iveco is not going in one direction, its offer includes all types of drives.
Robert Kiml and David Kříž also agreed that the subsidies with which some countries support the sales of electric cars work, but neither of the speakers is in favor of their introduction in the Czech Republic. According to them, every subsidy is a distortion of the market that will have an adverse effect somewhere else.
Even more than the final manufacturers, the current uncertainty affects suppliers in the automotive industry. According to Petr Novák from JTEKT Central Europe, Vice President and Chairman of the Division of Suppliers and Special Purpose Organizations at AutoSAP, suppliers are “in a pinch” between pressure from OEM manufacturers and rising costs. Long-term contracts limit the room for maneuver, while Chinese companies are pushing for extreme price reductions and introducing new, often unacceptable conditions.
Lukáš Rosůlek, CEO of the Czech Schaeffler and member of the board of directors of the Automotive Industry Association, and Martin Keresteši, director of the Yanfeng Automotive Interiors plant in Námestovo, agreed that the pressure on prices is currently enormous, but quality and reliability must not be sacrificed.
According to Rosůlek and Keresteši, if European companies want to survive in the competition, they are forced to look for new approaches, new materials and new production processes. But solutions are not quick. Before finding a replacement for some Chinese suppliers, it is necessary to find common ground with the existing ones and find a model of cooperation.
Although the supplier companies are suffering from the same problems, they are choosing different strategies. While Yanfeng is currently holding off on investments, Schaeffler is making large investments – most recently in Hrušov, Ostrava. According to Petr Novák, JTEKT has not stopped its investments either, but is directing them elsewhere than Europe.
Jan Vlasák from Digiteq Automotive, which designs, develops and tests innovative functions for modern cars, spoke at the conference about the impact of software-defined vehicles (SDVs) on the supply chain.
Vlasák emphasized the transformative power of SDVs, which is fundamentally changing the supply chain by shifting the emphasis from hardware to software. Traditional Tier 1 suppliers, which previously focused on mechanical and electronic components, are forced to adapt.And as software becomes a key driver of innovation and development, these suppliers are transforming into strategic software partners – instead of physical components, they now offer platforms, middleware and cloud services.”
An interesting dimension was brought by a separate section on the connection between the automotive and defense sectors, led by Kristýna Helm, Vice President and Deputy Executive Director of the Association of the Defense and Security Industry of the Czech Republic. The representative of the association initially stated that the Czech defense industry is exceptionally strong in terms of exports – more than 90 percent of production goes abroad, while demand for land and air systems is still growing.
She emphasized that the defense sector is promising, but difficult to access – contracts are awarded by states, the processes are long and highly regulated. Success depends on the specific product and the credibility of the partner, not on declarations of interest in cooperation. There are only a few companies that succeed and become a supplier for the needs of the armies. It also happens that the best offer does not win, because in the defense sector, other than economic considerations are also decisive.
Kristýna Helm from the Association of the Defense and Security Industry of the Czech Republic presented the growing potential of connecting the automotive and defense sectors. She emphasized the strength of Czech exports and the demanding paths that lead to success in defense contracts.
Pavel Hortlík, COO of Excalibur Army Přelouč, said that automotive companies have a lot to offer – their experience with efficient production, logistics and quality can be valuable for army projects. However, according to Martin Kele, former CEO of STV GROUP and Matador Holding, the path to success in defense takes years and requires not only perseverance, but also the ability to adapt to a different culture of orders and decision-making.
The conference was concluded by Miroslav Kroup from Škoda Auto, who summarized all the changes in the global automotive industry and supply chains and put them in context with the expected impacts on the European automotive industry.
In any case, it is clear that the automotive sector will have to deal with many challenges in the coming years, and not everyone will be able to go through this process without losses.
One of the ways to face adverse trends is to find new partnerships. The second day of the Olomouc conference, which was dedicated to B2B meetings, was a great way to do this. Similar to previous years, there was great interest in them.
The next year of the CEE Automotive Supply Chain conference will take place in autumn 2026 in Žilina.
A total of 507 organized B2B meetings took place at CEE Automotive Supply Chain 2025.
