Izera goes to the last charge? The import of ready cars to Poland is growing

In recent years, the import of ready cars to Poland has increased clearly – according to the PFR report on the automotive industry. It also indicated that our country fell in 2024 to the sixth position among battery exporters, while in 2023 it was second.

Currently, the commercial balance of the Polish automotive industry is negative – according to the Polish Development Fund report. One of the reasons is the import of combat vehicles, because if you deduct foreign purchases, among others tanks, the industry is still in the plus, although this surplus is already small.

At the same time, while trading in car parts and accessories generates a surplus of approx. EUR 6.7 billion after May 2025 (on a scale of the last 12 months), the main source of the problem is the deficit in the trade of passenger cars. Within 3 years, the deficit calculated in the last 12 months has grown from EUR -4.2 billion to -11.2 billion.

According to the explanations of experts from the car industry, this growing deficit in trade in passenger cars is associated with the fact that currently Polish factories are undergoing a reorganization period to adapt to the production of new models. The production of some of the old models has been dimmed and preparations for new production are underway, so for now the production of cars has fallen – said PAP PFR economist Andrzej Kochman, who is the author of the report.

He emphasized that Poland – in addition to car parts and accessories – is also strong in the export of trucks. In addition, our country is an important exporter of electric buses, although at the same time the sale of diesel buses is falling.

“Let's not forget that As announced by the “moves to the last charge” of Izer as part of the funding of KPO. Let's hope that the victorious, taking into account the changes made in the model of the project's functioning, “said Andrzej Kochman.

From the CSO data, which PFR cites, it follows that while the export of passenger cars from Poland compared to 2022 increased by nearly 50 percent, at the same time imports to Poland during this period almost doubled.

“You can see that the Polish market is currently powered by cars produced in Germany to a much greater extent than before,” said PFR expert.

At the same time, after 2024, Poland fell to the 6th position among the largest battery exporters – PFR informed in the report. In 2023, according to ITC data, our country was in the world in this respect in this respect.

The report also states that after 2024 Poland fell to the 6th position among the largest battery exporters.

According to PFR data, in 2024 the value of export of car batteries from Poland fell by 21.4 percent. And it amounted to just over EUR 7 billion. Hungary exported more last year (their sales abroad amounted to almost EUR 7.27 billion), South Korea (almost EUR 7.59 billion) and Germany (over EUR 7.8 billion). While these countries recorded exports last year, the export of batteries from the USA rapidly, which in 2024 amounted to almost EUR 8.12 billion.

PFR reminded that in 2023 Poland was the second battery exporter in the world.

“The fact that we fell from 2 to 6th position in the global export of batteries comes from the fact that the Polish Gigafabryka Battery factory was the first, but for now the only gigafabry. Meanwhile, others are building, e.g. in Hungary or Germany. Although there were plans to build another large battery factory near Gdańsk, but they were hung.” Kochman.

“Investment decisions in Poland are most likely suspended due to the issue of counting tax on CO2 emissions. The French lobby in the EU in such a way of counting CO2 emissions that takes into account the share of fossil fuels in the energy sector in a given country in a given goods, which will hit countries where coal participation in energy production is high, which is adverse for Poland, but also for Germany,” he added.

The report also shows that at least in part the issue of a decrease in battery exports from Poland is associated with the export of electric cars from our country. In this case, the batteries are not calculated separately. In the sale of electric cars, our country records a small surplus.

The Polish Development Fund supports the sustainable economic development of Poland by offering comprehensive financial solutions. The fund's activities are based on several areas, such as investments, innovation development, sustainable transformation, market analysis and capital market development.

Marek Siudaj (PAP)

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