Automotive Components Industry
- One of the cornerstone industries of Serbian economy, employing 36,000 people
- Long tradition in cooperation with western OEMs
- Existing capacities sufficient to support production of more than 250,000 vehicles annually
- High percentage of labor with adequate qualifications
- Location of the country allows servicing of all major growing OEMs in the region with JIT and JIS
There are about one hundred companies directly involved in production of automotive components and many of them are exporters to markets in Europe and wider. With total exports of about €100 million, this sector proves its international competitiveness in several key fields. Having FTAs with all countries in the region and Russia – fast growing automotive markets are at the doorstep of potential investors and trade partners. The most distinctive feature of Serbia’s automotive industry is that it was rather strong for a number of years with peak production of as much as 250,000 cars in 1989 and exports to the USA. This separates Serbia from all other countries in the region. The accumulated knowledge and experience is easy to build on and Serbia has all the potential to once again become the automotive centre of the Balkans.
The location of Serbia allows for the establishment of just–in–time supply mechanisms with partners in Western and Central Europe. Given the eastward shifts of production and assembly of passenger vehicles, it is certain that domestic companies will increase their visibility as suppliers and partners to the foreign OEMs and Tiers.
Apart from location, Serbia’s great advantage lies in qualified and competitively priced labor. With age structure closely following trends of those in Western Europe, labor force can be considered sufficiently experienced with enough young graduates to sustain a steady flow of qualified labor. In Serbia, around one third of all graduates from University graduate from technical faculties. This fact alone proves that technical sciences are still popular among young people in Serbia.
The great potential of the sector lies in its current operation under–capacity, combined with competitive and experienced labor. This attracted many foreign companies to establish cooperation with domestic companies and there are number of major players in both exports and investments. Serbia can be seen as an open door to many neighboring markets in which the automotive industry is either developing or will develop in the following five to ten years.
