AUTOMOTIVE STUDY 2025 / Šaroch (ed.) et al.

1.5 Overall characteristics of the global automotive market e automotive industry has undergone signi cant changes over the past two decades, with 2023 showing major shifts in production capacity and market trends. Asia has emerged as the dominant region with production of 55.1 million vehicles in 2023, an increase of more than 150% since 2003. In contrast, Europe, once the leader, has seen a decline from 20 million to 18.1 million units. After steady growth until 2017, there was a decline in 2018, which deepened during the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2023, vehicle production returned to pre pandemic levels to 94 million units, with passenger cars accounting for 72% of total production. China is the world’s largest producer of passenger cars, followed by Japan and India. e Czech Republic is the ninth largest producer of passenger cars in the world. In terms of sales, Volkswagen leads the ranking among car manufacturers, followed by Toyota and Stellantis. ese companies dominate the market and show strong competitiveness on a global scale. Germany and Japan have a positive trade balance in foreign trade in motor vehicles. Countries such as the USA, France and the UK have a negative balance of trade. From a pan-European perspective, the EU is a net exporter of cars. ere has been a signi cant change in the case of China, which has gone from being a net importer for years to a net exporter. Worldwide passenger car sales reached 65.3 million units, with Asia holding a dominant 65% share. China’s share of world sales is 40%. China is also the leader in the number of electric cars produced, a major exporter, and its share of electric cars in new car sales exceeds the EU average. erefore, China should maintain its lead. e share of EVs in new passenger car sales is expected to reach 44% worldwide by 2030, 60% in Europe and 68% in China. China s BYD was the world’s largest producer of EVs in 2023, with production of pure electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids exceeding 3 million units. Around 750,000 EVs were destined for the European Union in 2023 from third countries, i.e. countries outside the EU area. China accounts for many of these imports, almost 60%. Interestingly, if we measure the intensity of car production in each country in terms of the number of cars produced per capita, Slovakia produces the most cars relative to its population compared to all countries in the world, with the Czech Republic coming second.

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