ZAP: Car production in Slovakia up by 7.7% to approximately 1.07 million in 2025 (2024: 993,583 vehicles), of which 336,905 at Volkswagen Bratislava (-1.2%), 330,000 at Stellantis Trnava, 296,550 at Kia Žilina (-15.6%) and 107,000 at Jaguar Land Rover Nitra. Country continues to hold world lead in car production per capita (196 vehicles/1,000 inhabitants). However, outlook for next 3 years is relatively pessimistic, as after opening of Volvo Cars Košice plant, total production will more or less not increase – 1.02 million in 2026 (-5%), 1.08 million in 2027, 1.08 million in 2028. Association thus cut estimate from January 2025, when it predicted 1.27 million in 2027. Due to deteriorating competitiveness, Slovakia is not able to acquire enough new projects for electric vehicles (BEVs) that would offset decline in production of internal combustion engine vehicles (ICEVs). For greater success, it is inevitable to systematically build entire value chain, from battery production, through waste collection and processing to development of renewable energy sources. Logical requirement of zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) manufacturers is availability of sufficient clean energy for production itself. At same time, Slovakia is lagging behind in transposition of European legislation, which has negative impact on development of entire industry, Matušek said. He also pointed out outflow of talents and specialists due to high burden of taxes and contributions, when in Czechia employee in same position earns additional one net salary per year on average. Looking into future, we see that performance of five automakers can be same as that of three carmakers in past, ZAP President concluded