This article examines the impact of the 2008–2009 economic crisis on the automotive industry. The uneven nature of the crisis contributed to the gradual shift in production from traditional core areas of the global automobile industry to selected less developed economies. In this context, the paper analyses the firm-level effects of the economic crisis in the Czech and Slovak automotive industries as two examples of automotive industry peripheries that were integrated in the European automobile production system and experienced rapid production increases after 1990. The analysis draws on unique data collected during a survey of 274 Czech-based and 133 Slovak-based automotive firms conducted in autumn 2009 and spring 2010, 98 company interviews conducted with automotive firms in Czechia in 2010 and 2011, and 30 interviews conducted in Slovakia in 2011. Changes in revenues, production and employment during the economic crisis are compared between Czechia and Slovakia, and are analysed according to ownership, the involvement of firms in the automotive value chain and firm size. The article also investigates plant closures and relocations in the Czech and Slovak automotive industries during the economic crisis.