Abstract

The recent economic downturn triggered by the financial crisis in the United States significantly affected, among other, the situation in the world automotive industry. But the map of the world personal car production and consumption was experiencing strong shifts even before the crisis appeared. Historically dominant markets of the Triad, including Western Europe, USA and Japan, have been steadily losing their former superior position not only as leading automotive markets, but also as major cars producing locations. The growth of the automotive sector in the third millennium is driven by new, emerging regions, whose importance has been steadily increasing both in absolute and relative terms. Rising automotive nations such as Thailand, Iran, Uzbekistan, the region of Central and Eastern Europe, and especially the BRIC countries of Brazil, Russia, India, and China, are becoming the automotive centres of today. The analysis based mainly on the annual cars production statistics released annually by the International Organization of Motor Vehicle Manufacturers (OICA) has proved that there have been significant geographical shifts of the automotive industry recently, with the Western European countries and the USA being the main share losers, and with China, India, and Brazil being the most important winners.