1st ICAI 2020

International Conference on Automotive Industry 2020

Mladá Boleslav, Czech Republic

The Importance and Accuracy of Statistical Data in the Automotive Industry

Tomáš Kozelský Česká spořitelna, a.s. Economic and Strategic Research Budějovická 1518/13b, Praha 4, 140 00 Czech Republic e-mail: tkozelsky@csas.cz

Abstract When different data is used by different institutions and studies, the apparent impact of changes on the automotive market and individual economies varies significantly. The aim of this paper is to compare statistical data on the automotive industry in terms of its differences, periodicity and regular updating. Given the close interdependence of the national automotive industries within the EU, it is necessary to take into account not only national data, but also data on closely linked economies. In the case of Czechia, that is mainly Germany. Knowledge of market developments and statistical data in the automotive industry at both the national and EU levels EU is very important in a time of rapid change. There are not only changes that affect demand, but also changes on the regulatory side, where emission limits and how to meet them is becoming the main issue. Quantification of the impacts of changes should be based on data as close as possible to the given situation and current events. Keywords: automotive industry, Czechia, Germany, labour market, statistics JEL Classification: E24, J21, L62, L91 1. Introduction The automotive industry is important not only to the manufacturing sectors of many member states of the European Union, but is also an important part of their entire economies.This is true in full measure for Czechia. Car making contributes a significant amount to the country’s GDP, and also plays an important role in the labour market. Knowledge of current data on individual segments of the automotive industry and the trends over time – in terms of production numbers, exports, registrations of motor vehicles, as well as the industry’s productivity and its influence on the labour market – is very important not only for evaluating the industry’s performance but also for making decisions about the direction in which the automotive industry should develop. The performance of the automotive industry is vulnerable to economic cycles and trends and consumer demand and preferences, to say nothing of government regulations that can have a significant influence on the sector’s development. The automotive industry is fairly closely observed at both the national and EU levels. Even so, evaluations of the likely course and impact of individual changes can be very different depending on the source of data. Knowledge of individual relevant sources for statistical data on

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