Car Market Transformation

Abstract

AbstractThe purpose of this chapter is to present, in a spatial approach, changes that have occurred within the passenger car market in Poland since 1990 (i.e. since the start of the systemic transformation) under the influence of global, national, regional, and local factors. Defining the most important features of the Polish car market transformation, the study focuses on the following issues: development stages, the sale of new cars, import of used cars, and spatial variation of car ownership. The transformation of the car market in Poland well reflects the rapid social and economic changes taking place after the collapse of the centrally planned economic system. The country witnessed a significant growth of car ownership and a shift from public to individual modes of transport. Currently, the Polish car market seems to be at the saturation level achieved by its Western European counterparts, although it retains its own specificity—for example, in terms of the share of new and used cars registered. Despite more than three decades of transformation and a growing number of studies devoted to the car market in Poland, it remains an intriguing research field for geographers because the factors of its spatial differentiation call for a more profound analysis, also in the context of potential future market changes (such as the electromobility trend).KeywordsCar marketMotorisationTransportCar ownershipPoland