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Slovakia: Small country, auto giant

We鈥檙e in the country that makes the highest number of cars per capita in the world: Slovakia.

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鈥檒l 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: 麻豆社/John Laurenson)

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17 minutes

Last on

Wed 21 Jan 2026 15:32GMT

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