Tendencies of Development of Global Battery Market with Emphasis on Republic of Croatia

Starter and traction batteries are build in vehicles with internal combustion engine or electric engine. Similar, stationary batteries supply power to communication or computer centres. The use of these products indicates the specific market for them, because the battery producer is not often in connection with the final consumer, almost always there is someone between them, connecting them. Thus, between the user and the battery manufacturer intermediate distributors, service installations in which this product are build in or vehicle producers (OEM - original equipment of the manufacturer, first installation of the starter battery). Battery production is a strategic industry branch, because starting a vehicle depends on the availability of fuel and the availability of the starter or traction batteries. This paper contains a review of the battery manufacturing industry, as a industry branch, on global and Croatian market. The development has been reviewed by the structure, but also by the sources of applied technologies, especially modern technologies. The paper has been focused mainly on the development of Croatian battery industry and its only representative, company Munja d.d. Zagreb. Beginnings of the Munja d.d. company are correlated with the beginnings of the automobile industry at all. Business activity of any company cannot be considered in isolation from the environment. Therefore, the business of the Munja d.d. company has been observed with regards to the technological development in the last century, but compared to other battery manufacturers, in the former two common states, and also compared with the world manufacturers.