Slovak ranks among top car producers in central, eastern Europe

Slovakia has been at the top of the list of countries in Central and Eastern Europe when it comes to the increases in car production since the beginning of the recession, local news agency TASR reported on Wednesday.

To be more specific, while in 2008 Slovakia manufactured 575,800 passenger and utility cars, the figure rose to 993,000 in 2014, representing a 72-percent hike, according to an analysis issued by advisory and credit insurance company Coface.

"The automotive sector drives the economies of countries in Central and Eastern Europe to a high extent. These countries were able to draw a significant volume of foreign direct investments, which resulted in a twofold increase in automobile production in the region over the past ten years," said Coface economist Grzegorz Sielewicz on Wednesday.

The most successful in this respect were Slovakia, Romania and the Czech Republic, in which the production of cars rose almost threefold or even four times. In addition, Slovakia - along with the Czech Republic - ranks among the twenty top car manufacturers in the world.

"These two countries manufacture as many as two thirds of the overall car production in Central and Eastern Europe together," stressed Sielewicz.

As many as 85 percent of car exports from the region end up in EU member countries. Slovakia and Romania also export cars to non-EU countries to a noticeable extent. Slovakia, for its part, exports 26 percent of cars to countries outside the EU, with 4 percent headed to the U.S. and another 7 percent to China. Endit