Škoda Auto defends title of Czech Exporter of the Year

This year’s title Exporter of the Year award has again been claimed by the country’s largest automobile manufacturer Škoda Auto. The award for greatest export growth was won by pressure components manufacturer DGS Druckguss Systeme, while engineering firm Hutní Projekt Frýdek-Místek took the prize for best medium-sized exporter.

Photo: Škoda Auto

The Kaiserstein Palace in Prague’s Old Town hosted the 24th annual Exporter of the Year competition, whose partners include the Czech Chamber of Commerce. The main prize was claimed by the automobile manufacturer, Škoda Auto.

The announcement came as no surprise. Škoda has been dominating the competition for decades, regularly placing as the largest exporter by volume.

For 2018 Škoda says it achieved a year-on-year increase of 18 percent, exporting automobiles worth CZK 366 billion in total, close to 9 percent of the country’s entire exports.

Aside from Škoda, the top three spots have been dominated in the past years by two other companies –Taiwanese IT firm Foxconn and agriculture conglomerate Agrofert. This year they again placed second and third respectively.

Pressure components manufacturer DGS Druckguss Systeme won the award for highest export increase, which was as high as 51 percent. The company is primarily focused on lightweight die casting components and 95 of its produce is sold to the automobile industry.

Textile machine manufacturer Rieter CZ finished second in the category, with engineering company PBS Velká Bíteš coming in third.

The award for best medium-sized exporter, a category that ranks companies exporting in the range of 100 to 500 million crowns, engineering firm Hutní Projekt Frýdek-Místek, took the prize.

The partner prize for best export transaction which is awarded by the Czech Export Bank and the state owned insurance company EGAP went to baking oven manufacturer Kornfeil, and two other companies, both of which focus on agriculture machine engineering – Farmet and BEDNAR FMT.