Car industry will boost Slovakia trade

The car-making industry in Slovakia will positively affect economic growth and the jobs market, Slovak analysts said Thursday.

Earlier in the day, the Slovak government announced that Jaguar Land Rover signed a memorandum concerning a plan to build a new plant in Nitra in western Slovakia.

Slovenska sporitelna bank analyst Katarina Muchova calculated that the estimated investment of 1.5 billion euros (1.65 billion U.S. dollars) would constitute almost 2 percent of GDP.

She pointed out that vehicle production including the work of sub-suppliers makes up around one third of the total industrial output in Slovakia.

"The export of vehicles represents a significant share of Slovakia's total exports. Automobile manufacture makes up around 35 percent of all the country's industrial exports. When production is launched by Jaguar Land Rover, this percentage will increase," said Muchova.

According to Sberbank Slovakia head analyst Vladimir Vano, Slovakia could become the largest manufacturer of cars in the Visegrad Four (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) if production is at full capacity and the three existing carmakers in Slovakia (Volkswagen, Kia and PSA Peugeot Citreon) maintain their current levels of output.

"Slovakia should be among the key pillars of the Jaguar Land Rover brand's global expansion drive along with countries such as Brazil and China," he said.

Vano notes that Slovakia's advantage not only lies in the costs of its workforce but also in the ratio between these costs and qualifications.