Vehicle manufacturing has become the strongest sector in the Czech Republic and has become the engine of the country's economy. According to statistics, as at January 2017, over 118,000 people work directly in the Czech automotive industry, amounting to about 400,000 people if the employees of indirect suppliers are included. The automotive industry in the Czech Republic is set to produce a record 1.4 million vehicles this year, which is about 50,000 more than last year, and this is according to the figures released by the Czech Automotive Industry Association. The EU member country of 10.6 million people is home to three large car plants; Volkswagen’s unit Skoda Auto, South Korea’s Hyundai, and TPCA, a joint venture of Japan’s Toyota and France’s PSA Peugeot Citroen. Production of cars, trucks, motorcycles, and busses grew by 4.5 percent between January and November, to 1.3 million, the association reported. Skoda is the driving force behind the growth in production followed by Tatra and Jawa Moto. Skoda has raised its output by 12.2 percent amounting to a record-high of about 858,103 units, Hyundai saw a drop of 0.5 percent to 356,700 cars and TPCA registered a 9.8-percent decline to 199,078 cars. The Czech economy is heavily dependent on car production and exports mainly to the eurozone.