The importance of the automotive industry in the new member states of the European Union in Central Europe

The basic question of this thesis is to evaluate the importance of the automotive industry for the new member states of the European Union from Central Europe, which are the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Slovenia. Today automotive industry belongs to the most important industries. After 1990 Central Europe has become an area which is largely dependent on the production of vehicles and components. This thesis seeks to answer the question why this is so. The first part of this thesis introduces the companies operating in these five countries. The following chapter deals with the question of how far the automotive industry is important for the economies of these five countries. It focuses on the automotive industry's share of total exports, gross domestic product or total employment. The aim of the final part is to analyse the development of automobile production in recent years with regard to the economic crisis. Also, it outlines the likely development over the next few years