Siete automobilového priemyslu v Nitrianskom kraji

Over the last 20 years, the automotive industry has become one of the most important industries in Slovakia. In 2018, the fourth large car manufacturer Jaguar Land Rover Nitra also started production in Nitra, which further strengthened the position of the automotive industry. The aim of the article is to map and evaluate the ties in the network of firms in the automotive industry in the Nitra region. Using social network analysis (SNA), we analysed supply chain, as well as other types of ties such as cooperation on research and development, provision of information or cooperation on educational activities. The resulting networks cover the chain from Tier 3 suppliers to car manufacturers. The results show that the surveyed companies hardly cooperate with public or non-profit sector institutions and, with the exception of supply chain, the cooperation network has a very low density. Only Slovak companies cooperate in research and development, mainly because in the case of foreign branches, these activities are carried out by the parent company abroad. On the other hand, in the case of domestic companies, there are not enough resources to carry out these activities. This forms a significant barrier to the possible formation of a cluster in the automotive industry and thus a barrier to the transfer of know-how and innovation.