PRAGUE, Jan. 17 (Xinhua) -- Czech passenger car production rose by 14.8 percent year-on-year to around 1.4 million units in 2023, almost reaching the production levels before the COVID-19 crisis, the Czech Automotive Industry Association said on Wednesday.
Of all the 1,397,816 passenger vehicles produced in the Czech Republic last year, more than 92 percent, or 1,292,199 units, were destined for foreign markets, the association said in a statement. The country's vehicle exports recorded a 14.3-percent increase year-on-year.
On the other hand, domestic sales of passenger vehicles surged 20.4 percent year-on-year, it said.
The largest domestic carmaker Skoda Auto, which accounts for 61.9 percent of total passenger car production in the Czech Republic, saw production expand by 24.8 percent to 864,889 units last year. Almost 90 percent of its production, or 777,105 vehicles, were exported.
The best report card in the past four years was backed by the production of electric vehicles (EV), the association said. Last year, EV output rose by 34 percent year-on-year to a record 180,887 units, accounting for 13 percent of total production.
"The more than one-third increase in production of electric vehicles is confirmation of the current trends," Martin Jahn, president of the Automotive Industry Association, said in the statement.
"Although we will have to continue to work with a number of challenges, I am convinced that in 2023 as well as this year, the car industry will once again be the engine of the Czech economy and one of the most innovative industries," he added.
Meanwhile, Tatra Trucks, the only lorry manufacturer among the association's members, produced 1,432 vehicles in 2023, up 6.3 percent year-on-year. However, bus production fell by 1.3 percent year-on-year to 5,253 units, while that of motorcycles declined by 53.5 percent, and trailers, by 19.3 percent, according to the association. ■
