Carmakers propel Slovakia’s economy

THE MANUFACTURING industry is growing in Slovakia. In January local production grew by 17.1 percent year-on-year. According to the Slovak Statistics Office, it was carmakers and mechanical engineering companies in particular that drove the growth in production. Analysts expect Slovak industry to continue to thrive in the coming months, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote.

THE MANUFACTURING industry is growing in Slovakia. In January local production grew by 17.1 percent year-on-year. According to the Slovak Statistics Office, it was carmakers and mechanical engineering companies in particular that drove the growth in production. Analysts expect Slovak industry to continue to thrive in the coming months, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote.

“The trend in assessing industrial production was upward, which is a precondition for further strong growth,” said Andrej Arady, analyst with VÚB Banka.

The automotive sector should be the main driving force of Slovak industry this year. During the first months of 2011 car production has already risen by as much as 50.9 percent y/y, and analysts expect carmakers to make the biggest contribution to the revival in Slovakia’s economy.

“The concentration on the car industry is playing to Slovakia’s benefit for the time being,” said Boris Fojtík, an analyst with Tatra Banka. According to him, the start of new production lines at Volkswagen, along with the start-up of new investments in the electro-technical industry, will be an important factor.

Volkswagen increased production in January.

“While in January 2010 we operated in two shifts for five days per week, this year we manufactured cars in four shifts seven days per week,” Vladimír Machalík, spokesperson of Volkswagen told the daily.

Kia Motors Slovakia near Žilina reports an increased interest in its cars from Slovaks.

“We have registered a more significant growth compared with the previous year and we believe that these numbers can grow even further,” said company spokesperson Dušan Dvořák. The company registered an increased demand especially after it launched its new Hyundai ix35 and Kia Sportage models.


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