EVEN though Slovakia is called the Detroit of the East because of the growing number of cars manufactured here, more Slovaks would rather drive used cars that were made abroad.
In 2007, the Slovak police registered more imported used passenger cars and small commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes than new cars in these categories, for the first time in the country’s history, the SITA newswire wrote. The statistics reported 87,677 imported used cars and small commercial vehicles, up 22.4 percent year-on-year.
That was compared to 83,255 new passenger cars and small commercial vehicles of up to 3.5 tonnes, up 5.96 percent from the previous year, Marta Nováková of the Automotive Industry Association (ZAP) told SITA.
The Czech Škoda remained the best-selling carmaker in Slovakia, with a 21.58-percent market share. Peugeot came in second, with a market share of 7.28 percent, and Citroen was third with seven percent.
