It is the first time that Czech car producers recorded a year-on-year growth this year and also the first time they returned to a pre-COVID monthly production volume.

Some 481,535 cars were produced in the Czech Republic over the first five months of 2022, which is still 14% lower than in the same period last year.

The reasons for the decline from January to the end of May were a shortage of semiconductor chips, disrupted supply chains due to the Russian war in Ukraine, reduced logistics flows due to anti-pandemic measures in China, as well as some local events, such as a fire at a key supplier of Skoda Octavia, or the restructuring of Toyota's Kolin plant.