Polish factory car production up

Poland’s car manufacturers produced their most lucrative December in over six years, according to the Automotive Market Research Institute Samar. What’s more, production for all of 2016 increased substantially as well. “Total production in 2016 amounted to 660,642 automobiles, about 2.84 percent more than the previous year. Of that total, 86 percent were passenger cars (compared to 85.58% a year earlier). Participation of light commercial vehicles amounted to a 13.6 percent increase, y/y,” according to the report, which was released on Thursday. In December alone, Polish factories produced 51,425 cars and trucks, a 2.59 percent increase, month-on-month. The Institute noted that December is typically a slower month than others for auto sales and production. “The December result is the best result of the December production of cars in Poland in many years {…} compared to the other months of last year, December 2016 compared favourably (it was the eighth-best month for production),” the report also said. In terms of company competition, FCA Poland produced the most passenger cars in 2016, whereas GM Manufacturing Poland came in second (201,300 passenger cars produced). The vast majority (over 97 percent) were exported abroad.