Business Daily - Slovakia: Small country, auto giant
Download Slovakia: Small country, auto giant
When Slovakia was part of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic, the cars it made were noisy, thirsty and slow by western standards at the time. But when Volkswagen bought the car-maker Skoda, that was the beginning of a major change.
Now, Slovakia makes almost a million cars a year and with Volvo opening a factory here in 2027, it’ll be a quarter of a million more. Extraordinary for a country of five million people.
We visit a factory and find out why this small nation is attracting so much car industry investment.
If you'd like to get in touch with the programme, our email address is businessdaily@bbc.co.uk
Presented and produced by John Laurenson
(Picture: Workers on a production line in a car factory, Slovakia. Credit: BBC/John Laurenson)
Published on Wednesday, 21st January 2026.
Available Podcasts from Business Daily
We are not the BBC, we only list available podcasts. To find out more about the programme including episodes available on BBC iPlayer, go to the Business Daily webpage.