Despite Poland having no car brand of its own, the automotive industry is a very important part of the Polish industry which gives impetus to the whole Polish economy.

The country is a vital player in the European Union as a supplier of cars, car parts and engines. With the production output equating to 662 thousand of cars in 2016, Poland ranks 8th in the EU with 3.5 percent market share. It is behind Czech Republic and Slovakia (5th and 7th place in the EU with 7 percent and 4.9 percent market share respectively), whilst Hungary is just behind Poland (9th place).

Altogether, within the group of EU’s leading car manufacturers, there are as many as five countries from Central Europe which are responsible for over 1/5 of the EU’s production output. Even though Poland has, in recent years, lost the competition for foreign investment to its partners from the Visegrad Group (Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary) it doesn't mean that it has been completely ignored by automotive groups – after all, leading producers such as Mercedes Benz, LG Chem and Kongsberg have built their factories here.

The overall value of sold production from the automotive enterprises operating in Poland increased by almost 26 percent between 2013 and 2016. Since 2008, the growth amounts to as much as 71 percent. This is one of the best results in the European industry due to the recession (2008) caused by the aforementioned crisis.

The data from GUS (Main Statistical Office) suggests that the structure of car manufacturing in Poland changed significantly in 2017 – the overall 2.3 percent increase of the number of manufactured cars compared to the previous year consisted of the decrease in the production of personal cars (5.6 percent) and the simultaneous significant production growth (by 37.2 percent) of trucks, vans and buses.

However, the most dynamic segment of the Polish automotive industry within the last few years has been the production of car parts and accessories which since 2011 (when their value exceeded the total value of manufactured ready cars) has been the industry’s showcase example. At the same time, it is suggested by statistical data, that in 2016 the share of car parts and accessories production in the total value of the automotive industry’s production in Poland amounted to 57 percent, compared to almost 42 percent in 2007.

The Polish industry has followed the scenarios which had been previously tested by the automotive companies from Great Britain and Spain where the established national brands were overtaken by international groups which subsequently developed not only the final car production but above all the manufacturing of components and spare parts in these countries. As the manufacturing of automotive components, parts and accessories seems like a safe business option under the Polish conditions, numerous groups of entrepreneurs specialise in deliveries encompassing the following: car accessory elements, rubber parts, consumables, construction elements, rubber-metal parts and metal parts. What is more, many Polish companies provide services within the scope of surface and plunge treatment (galvanising, carbonising, nitrogen treatment, painting and varnishing, anti-corrosive coating) and machining.

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