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

e evolution of the share of GVA of purely the automotive industry (excluding subcontracting industries) in GDP in the Member States that are the largest producers of passenger cars in the EU shows some interesting uctuations and trends - a decline due to the reverberations of the economic crisis in 2012 and 2013 and the pandemic after 2020, the declining importance of France in the automotive industry, and on the contrary, the growing in uence of the automotive industry, especially in Slovakia, and the volatility of the Czech Republic. Fig. 2.5: Development of the share of gross value added (GVA) of the automotive industry in GDP for the largest passenger car manufacturers from EU countries

Source: Eurostat; only the section Manufacture of motor vehicles (except motorcycles), trailers and semi-trailers

2.1.2 The growing importance of foreign trade in motor vehicles in the European Union

Automobile production in the EU is, among other things, a very important component of foreign trade at European and global levels. However, in 2020, both imports and exports of passenger cars from countries outside the European Union have fallen signi cantly because of the COVID-19 pandemic. is decline was re ected both in reduced trade value and in fewer vehicles traded. e pandemic had a signi cant negative impact on international car trade. Restrictions and disruptions to logistics chains have a ected not only trade ows themselves but also product distribution, with the decline in global demand particularly evident in the rst half of 2020. 2021, however, brought a recovery in international trade and an increase in both the value and quantity of cars traded, helped, among other things, by a lower comparison base in the previous year. is positive trend continued in 2022, when trade in motor vehicles showed a further recovery. In 2023, passenger car exports from the EU prospered, reaching € 176.63 billion, representing 1.04% of EU GDP and a 12%

34