The production of motor vehicle parts and vehicles is one of the most innovative industries in Poland. In recent years, its share in the sold production and employment of the manufacturing industry has been steadily increasing. It can therefore be expected that the impact of the condition of this sector on Poland’s economic situation will also grow. When describing the situation in the automotive industry, information was used regarding business entities classified under division 34 of the PKD (Polish Classification of Activities), which includes the manufacture of motor vehicles, the manufacture of motor vehicle bodies, the manufacture of trailers and semi-trailers, and the manufacture of parts and accessories for motor vehicles and their engines.
The role of the automotive industry in the manufacturing industry as a whole
An analysis of the importance of the automotive industry for the country’s economic development can be conducted by taking into account many factors. This description is limited to selected information derived from publications of the Central Statistical Office in Warsaw. Since 2002, the share of this industry’s sold production in the sales of the entire manufacturing industry has been systematically growing. At the beginning of the adopted time horizon, the aforementioned revenues accounted for 7.1% of total sales in the industry, and in 2006 this share increased to 11.4%. The production of motor vehicle parts and vehicles is of particular importance for three voivodeships: Silesian (28.8% share in regional industrial sales), Lower Silesian (25.5%), and Greater Poland (17.7%). At the same time, these are regions where GDP per capita is about 10-
20% higher than the average for all voivodeships. In the years 2002-
2006, employment in the discussed industry increased significantly. In January 2002, 77,000 people were employed in companies in this sector, and in November 2006, this number rose to 114,000, which means a change of about 48%. In the same period, employment in the entire manufacturing industry changed from 2,053,000 people to 2,128,000, i.e., by about 3.7%. The industry is also characterized by a growing share of jobs in industrial employment (see chart 2). Back in 2002, 3.8% of all manufacturing industry employees were employed in the automotive industry, whereas in 2006 this ratio already amounted to 5.3%. Despite the recently frequently cited difficulties associated with a significant intensification of private imports of used cars, the industry is one of the fastest-growing branches of the Polish economy. It must be remembered that its condition depends not only on the sales of new passenger cars but also on the business climate for delivery vehicles, buses, and spare parts. It can be assumed that due to the increase in the number of several- and dozen-year-old cars driving on Polish roads, the demand for parts should increase in the future. Assessments of the level of innovation of the Polish economy place the automotive industry among the most developmental sectors of the manufacturing industry. The innovation index of this industry is 3.11 against the average for all 21 analyzed divisions, which is 2.57 (Gomułka, 2006).
The article comes from the magazine “Logistyka” 2/2007.