TATRA TRUCKS a.s., a member of the Czechoslovak Group holding, significantly strengthens. Last year, compared to the expected operating profit (before depreciation) of 200 million korunas, the company achieved almost double profit in the end. This is great news for the domestic defence industry mainly in comparison with the year 2018 when the company had a loss of 69 million.

Picture: The Tatra company had to recruit about 70 new employees last year (illustrative picture) | TATRA TRUCKS

“Originally, we expected only a profit of approximately 200 million CZK in 2019. In the end we had to increase it several times,” said Pavel Lazar, the Director General of the company.  The Tatra company had to recruit about 70 new employees last year. The Tatra company has 1000 employees in total and more than 600 people work in the subsidiary Tatra Metalurgie. The sales have increased due to higher production. The Director Pavel Lazar said earlier that the Tatra company had produced 1,183 vehicles and sold about a hundred more of them last year. In 2018 the car factory produced 790 cars and sold 841 of them.  The car factory have been constantly innovating and investing in new equipment, simply keeping up with the times. The quality of the Tatra brand has been also guaranteed by the fact that the Army of the Czech Republic, which purchased the Tatra vehicles in various configurations in the past, is one of its regular customers and will continue to do so in the next years.

Picture: Tatra 815-7 PRAM | army.cz

Apart from the production and development the company is also aware of the need for quality employees that are recruited from schoolrooms and workshops of technical schools. Tatra to Schools, as the project is called, was established in 2018 and is about direct cooperation among the car factory and individual regions and technical schools. Chosen students from high schools are given the opportunity to assemble the Tatra vehicle, which goes to normal operation, for example, at Regional Road maintenance or other institutions established by the region. Last but not least, the assembled vehicle will be usefully employed afterwards.

Picture: The Army of the Czech Republic purchased the Tatra vehicles in different configurations in the past and will continue to do so in the next years. (Tatra Tactic 4×4 in the picture) | TATRA TRUCKS

The TATRA PHOENIX 4x4 truck is the first vehicle that will come out from the project ‘Tatra to schools’ and will serve for the needs of the Pardubice region. The students of the Automotive High School of the Orlickoústecko Region have been working hard on completing the assembly. The works on the Tatra started last autumn.

Picture: TATRA PHOENIX 4x4 Truck | TATRA TRUCKS

This is a real challenge for 11 students of the second and third year who have been working on the composition of the car from the beginning: The Tatra factory in Kopřivnice supplied the Tatra vehicle in the form of spare parts stored in the 30 large boxes. Nevertheless, the assembly continues and the students have assembled the entire chassis recently. This solution aims to arouse interest in students regarding the brand, but also offer employment in the future, as technical fields are what the Tatra company needs and supports. Indeed, this applies to the entire domestic defence industry.