In January, new car production in the Czech Republic fell 11.4 percent from a year earlier. The 92,657 cars produced are the worst results since 2010, the Czech Automobile Association said in Prague on Thursday.
The main reason for the decline in car production remains the large chip shortage. Another important reason is the cessation of production of Citroen and Peugeot vans at the Toyota plant in Cologne due to a change in the production program. The launch of the new model, the Aygo X, is underway, the announcement points out.
Every tenth new car produced in the Czech Republic was an electric car.
Of the three major Czech automakers, Hyundai in Nosovice increased its production by 17 percent year-on-year and produced 21,601 cars in January. The largest Czech car factory, Skoda Auto of Miladá Boleslav, part of the German Volkswagen Group, produced 62,352 cars, 13 percent less than a year ago. Toyota production in Choline fell 40 percent to 8,704 cars in January. The share of electric cars in Hyundai was 40 percent, while in Skoda it was 6 percent. There is a general expectation that the situation will improve over the course of the year and the chip shortage will be gradually resolved, the automotive industry association said in a statement.
Production of buses and motorcycles rose year-on-year in January.
(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)