18/7/2024 |Articles are machine translated
Production of the facelifted Tucson at the Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech Republic plant in Nosovice | Photo: HMMCZ
In the first half of 2024, the Czech car industry achieved the highest first-half production result in the history of the Czech Republic. In the first six months, a total of 774,310 passenger vehicles were produced in the Czech Republic, i.e. 4.9% more than in the same period of the previous year. Year-on-year increases were also recorded in the production of 821 trucks (+ 26.5%), 662 motorcycles (+ 78.4%) and trailers over 3.5 t, which rolled off the production lines in a total of 1,085 units (+ 8.5%). The production volume fell in the bus segment by 2,266 units (-9.8%) and in the small trailer segment by 8,556 units (-7.1%). The production of electric vehicles currently accounts for 8% of the total production of motor vehicles. In the first six months, a total of 45 684 pure electric and 16 201 plug-in hybrid passenger vehicles were produced.
“The record number of more than 774,000 completed passenger vehicles in the first half of the year, despite a slowdown in production in June, is a clear confirmation of the success of domestic manufacturers on the main European markets and the contribution of the automotive industry as a driving engine of the domestic economy. Domestic manufacturers of trucks and motorcycles are also achieving excellent results, showing a significant increase in sales in the Czech Republic. In the case of Tatra, the interest in domestic vehicles is confirmed by the framework agreement concluded with the Ministry of Defence for the purchase of up to 872 vehicles produced at the Kopřivnice line,” says Martin Jahn, President of the Association of the Automotive Industry.
In the first six months of this year, 774,310 passenger vehicles were produced in the Czech Republic, i.e. 4.9% more than in the same period of the previous year. Electric vehicles produced in the period totalled 61,885 units and accounted for 8% of domestic car production. A total of 45,684 battery BEVs and 16,201 plug-in hybrid PHEVs were produced. A total of 51 031 vehicles were delivered to the domestic market, 4.4% less than in the previous year. More than 93% of the vehicles produced (723 279 units) were destined for foreign markets. Vehicle exports thus recorded a 5.6% year-on-year increase.
Škoda Auto, the largest domestic carmaker, produced 473,582 passenger cars (+2%) at its domestic plants in January-June. 41,268 vehicles (-6%) were placed on the Czech market, while 432,314 vehicles (+2.8%) were sent to foreign markets. Škoda Auto produced 32,810 electric vehicles (battery BEVs and plug-in hybrid PHEVs), i.e. almost 7% of the brand’s total production. Of these, 27,577 were battery BEVs and 5,233 plug-in hybrids.
Hyundai Motor Manufacturing’s Nosovice plant produced a total of 175,950 vehicles in the first two quarters, down -0.6% compared to the same period last year, but still 3,250 vehicles more than planned for this period. A total of 167,490 vehicles were exported (-1.2%) and 8,460 were sold domestically (+12.2%). Of the total number of vehicles produced, 18,107 were pure electric and 10,968 were plug-in hybrid. Overall, electric vehicles accounted for 16.5% of total production. The automaker is now focusing a great deal of attention on securing supplier capacity to meet demand for internal combustion engines in the i30 and Tucson models, which underwent a facelift in early April.
Cologne-based Toyota reported higher year-on-year production figures due to a lower comparative base last year, which included production downtime caused by a shortage of components for production. In the first six months, a total of 124,778 cars were produced at the plant, 28.6% more than in January-June 2023. In absolute terms, 27,777 more passenger cars were therefore produced in Kolin during the period. A total of 123 475 vehicles were exported (+29.9%), mainly to Italy, France and Germany, and 1 303 (-32.1%) were registered domestically. Almost half of the production was accounted for by Yaris HV hybrids.
In the first two quarters, 2,266 buses were produced in the Czech Republic (-9.8%), 520 buses were destined for the domestic market (+173.7%), and the remaining 2,360 were exported (-5.1%). Iveco CR in Vysoké Mýto produced 2,057 buses, i.e. 11.8% fewer than last year, 2,297 were destined abroad (-1.8%) and 374 units (+138.2%) were sold domestically. In the first half of this year, SOR Libchavy produced 190 buses, i.e. 10.5% more than last year, of which 146 (+342.4%) were destined for the domestic market and 44 (-68.3%) buses of this brand went abroad. The manufacturer KHMC produced 17 buses (+112.5%) during the period, all of which were destined for export.
Tatra Trucks, which is the only manufacturer of trucks among the members of the Association of the Automotive Industry, produced a total of 821 vehicles in the first half of this year, i.e. 172 more than in the same period last year (i.e. +26.5%).
In the first six months of the year, Jawa produced 662 motorcycles, 291 more than in the previous year (+78.4%). Of the total production, 268 motorcycles of this brand were placed on the Czech market (+56.7%), 394 machines were exported (+97%).
The trailer segment recorded a slight year-on-year decline. Between January and June, 9,641 trailers and semi-trailers of all sizes were produced, i.e. 564 units less than last year (-5.5%). In terms of volume, the majority of production was handled by Agados, a company specialising in small trailers up to 3.5 t. It produced 8,556 units (-7.1%), sold 4,574 units (-9.6%) in the Czech Republic and 3,383 units (-8.1%) abroad.
In the category of large trailers and semi-trailers there was a year-on-year increase in production. Schwarzmüller produced 810 large trailers, 10.8% more than last year. The Czech Republic sold 110 units (-71.1%) and abroad 725 units (+8.9%). The Czech company Panav also performed well, producing a total of 272 trailers and semi-trailers, 2.3% more than in the previous year. It placed 212 trailers on the domestic market (-3.6%) and 27 trailers abroad (+22.7%). Agados also contributed 3 units to the trailer segment above 3.5 t.
