Volkswagen Slovakia has already interrupted production. (source: Courtesy of VW Slovakia)
While the Slovak automotive industry remains one of the main pillars of the Slovak economy its competitiveness, compared to other countries, is worsening. This is due to the higher growth dynamics of wage costs over labour productivity, as well as too little investment in research and development.
“The decrease in the cost-related competitiveness of the automotive industry may lead to a lower interest in investing in Slovakia, which will have a direct impact on the inflow of foreign investments,” said Alexander Matušek, president of the Slovak Automotive Industry Association (ZAP), during a presentation of the results of an analysis of the competitiveness of the local car industry. “We have been observing stagnation in this respect since 2015.”
ZAP commissioned the study from the independent Industriewissenschaftliches Institut in Vienna.
