Automotive industry in Croatia

Rimac Concept S

The automotive industry in Croatia employs about 10,000 people in over 130 companies and generates profit of about US$600 million. Croatia mostly produces automotive parts and software. Two most prominent car manufacturers in Croatia are DOK-ING and Rimac Automobili, while Crobus produces buses. The automotive industry accounts for approximately 1.8 per cent of all Croatian exports, while 90 per cent of profits in the industry itself are derived from exports.[1]

Automotive parts manufacturers in Croatia are well-integrated into the global parts supply chain, such as AD Plastik, which produces for Volkswagen,[2] or Lipik Glas, which supplies windscreens to the London Taxi Company and Aston Martin.[3] Other Croatian companies produce parts for PSA Peugeot Citroën, General Motors, Fiat, BMW, Audi, Ford, Renault, Toyota and Volvo, among others.[1]

History

A TAZ Neretva II in the Czech Republic.

Between and after the two World Wars, a number of automotive companies and manufacturing plants emerged: Tvornica motora Zagreb (TMZ) and Tvornica Autobusa Zagreb (TAZ), both based in Zagreb.[4]

Tvornica Autobusa Zagreb started producing buses and trucks in 1930. In 1980, the factory employed 1,200 people and produced an average of 500–600 vehicles (up to 900) yearly. Buses were exported to China, Finland, Egypt and other countries. The company also produced motorcycles until it went defunct in 2000. Other companies, such as Đuro Đaković have been producing military vehicles, such as M-95 Degman tank and LOV-1 armored vehicle. The company also manufactured Patria AMV vehicles under license. Rijeka-based vehicle manufacturer Torpedo produced military trucks, used in Croatian War of Independence during the 90s.

Restaurant and brewery owner IPIM d.o.o. launched a truck based on the Kia K2700 in 2003. Designed for promotional purposes, the vehicle featured a retro-styled, stainless steel body and a 2.7 liter engine producing 80 horsepower. It retailed for €42,500 and was mainly exported to other European countries.[5][6]

Croatia produced its first electric city concept car DOK-ING Loox in 2012. The first car was sold to the Zagreb Faculty of Engineering.[7] In 2015, the company produced two electric buses for the city of Koprivnica as part of the project Civitas Dyn@mo.[8] In the following years, the company began producing a variety of electric vehicles such as communal vehicles, buses, mopeds and bikes for foreign markets.

In 2013, Croatian bus manufacturer CROBUS signed a 2.1 billion Croatian kuna deal (€280 million) to produce and export 2,000 buses to Iraq, with the first buses delivered in the same year.[9]

The same year, privately owned Rimac Automobili produced Rimac Concept One, a two-seat high-performance electric sports car. Concept One has been described as the world's first electric supercar becoming the world's fastest accelerating electric automobile until 2015. The car was exported during the same year, and was the first car exported abroad in the country's history.[10] As of 2016, all of the eight Concept Ones manufactured were sold. The company subsequently unveiled the improved Rimac Concept S at the 2015 Geneva Motor Show.[11] The company's subsidiary Greyp Bikes also started mass production and export of its own brand of high performance electric bikes. Greyp dealerships were opened in countries such as United Kingdom, Switzerland, Norway, and Luxembourg.[12] The Rimac group also produces and manufactures engines and other electrical parts for other companies, such as the liquid cool battery pack for Koenigsegg,[13] claimed as the most power-dense battery pack to date.[14] In 2017, they were producing battery systems for Aston Martin.[15] It also produces entire vehicles for other companies, such as the Applus Volar-E for Applus+ IDIADA.[16]

Manufacturers

Defunct

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "Automotive Industry". Agency for Investment Competitiveness. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  2. ↑ "Solinski AD Plastik sklopio posao s Volkswagenovim tvornicama u Njemačkoj i Meksiku". Jutarnji list (in Croatian). 30 September 2016. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  3. ↑ "Croatian Company to Produce Windscreens for London Cabs". Croatia Week. 16 February 2017. Retrieved 26 July 2017.
  4. ↑ https://www.tportal.hr/vijesti/clanak/svrca-dva-kotaca-slave-20110515#.VNySPf-FbgE
  5. ↑ "I Hrvatska ima svoj automobil". VidiAuto (in Croatian). VIDI-TO. 15 December 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  6. ↑ "Tvrtka Ipim predstavila prvi hrvatski automobil za poslovne inicijative". Croatiabiz.com (in Croatian). 15 December 2003. Retrieved 5 February 2017.
  7. ↑ "FER kupio prvi hrvatski električni auto". Poslovni dnevnik (in Croatian). 12 November 2013. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  8. ↑ "Predstavljeni električni autobusi – Grad Koprivnica". Koprivnica.hr (in Croatian). 16 July 2015. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  9. ↑ Bičak, Darko (9 October 2013). "Irak preuzeo prvi od 2000 autobusa iz hrvatske tvornice Crobus". Poslovni dnevnik. Večernji list. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  10. ↑ Milčić, Mladen (6 January 2013). "FOTO Domaći uspjeh: Hrvatska izvozi prvi automobil u povijesti". Večernji list (in Croatian). Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  11. ↑ Charlton, Alistair (3 March 2016). "Geneva 2016: The electric Rimac Concept S and hybrid Koenigsegg Regera faster than the Bugatti Chiron". International Business Times UK. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  12. ↑ Nobilo, Igor (10 September 2016). "Croatian Greyp Bikes Excite Piqué, Messi and Fàbregas". Total-croatia-news.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  13. ↑ Wade, Steven (29 February 2016). "Koenigsegg Presents Production Spec Regera, 'Agera Final' and Agera RS at Geneva 2016". Koenigsegg. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  14. ↑ Okulski, Travis (3 March 2015). "How The 1,500 HP Koenigsegg Regera Hits 248 MPH Without A Gearbox". Jalopnik. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
  15. ↑ http://www.topgear.com/car-news/supercars/heres-wholl-help-aston-martin-build-its-1000bhp-hypercar#4
  16. ↑ Yoney, Domenick (6 March 2013). "New Applus Volar-E is an electric supercar with Rimac roots, courts controversy [w/video]". Autoblog.com. Retrieved 29 December 2016.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.