14/9/2026 |Articles are machine translated
We are happy with each new issue of Czech Automotive Industry. And perhaps even more so than ever before. It’s not just about the magazine itself, but about what precedes it. Visits to plants, meetings with people whose work the automotive industry relies on. And the experience of the last three months shows that, in addition to the exceptionally successful Škoda Auto, there are more reasons for optimism in the Czech automotive industry than might seem in the current situation.
It is a pleasure to meet managers and people on the line who are obviously fulfilled by their work. Some have been at the same car company for twenty years – like Petr Michník at Hyundai. If you like challenges, there is no reason to be surprised. There is no shortage of them in the automotive industry. In a long interview with Petr Michník, we talked about the European automotive industry, Chinese competition, Korean specifics and humanoid robots, which he is already looking forward to.
The president of Kolín Toyota, Robert Kiml, has also known the car company from the inside since its beginning in 2005. He has witnessed many changes, and he is now preparing the biggest one in the history of the Czech plant with his colleagues. The Kolín subsidiary will become Toyota’s first own production plant in Europe to start producing a battery electric car. There are many secrets surrounding the project, but Robert Kiml showed our editorial team how preparations are continuing.
Lukáš Rosůlek, the head of the Czech Schaeffler, is not suffering from a lack of energy either. The new plant in Ostrava-Hrušov, which started up earlier and on a larger scale than expected, is under the close supervision of the parent company and Mercedes-Benz, the sole customer of the production. This is a unique power electronics, a sophisticated One Box product. Tuning production and achieving the required volume is no small operational task. Lukáš Rosůlek lists the problems in the report, but he has no doubt that the team will be able to handle them.
This time, the magazine gave significant space to companies that are very busy thanks to large new projects. But that does not mean that they are not solving problems. Miroslav Dvořák, owner of MOTOR JIKOV, describes the current situation in the material on the supplier sector as a combination of negative factors that force suppliers to look for new production programs. And he adds that MOTOR is doing well.
The top managers of BRANO are also not sparing in criticizing the conditions for doing business. Pavel Juříček calls the combination of negative influences – from energy prices to rising raw materials and a shortage of technical workers to European regulation – a deadly cocktail. BRANO is among the companies that are actively looking for ways to deal with the new conditions. And it brings results.
In the autumn issue, however, we are not only focusing on companies doing business in the Czech Republic. The automotive world needs to be seen in a broader context, looking beyond borders and following trends that will sooner or later affect us too. The text about how the American auto industry is changing was prepared for us by Markéta Šebelová from the Chicago office of CzechTrade. The perspective of alternative fuels was then prepared by journalist Vladimír Rybecký.
And the list of topics is far from over. So I recommend not choosing – the new issue is worth reading in its entirety.
A peaceful autumn over the pages of the Czech Auto Industry.
