Beyond this it becomes possible to join the axis BrnoKrakow

The decade 2000-2009, the centre of gravity of the European automotive industry will dramatically move eastward. The area chosen by the builders to install their new sites or increase their capacity is located in a parallelogram of 300 km wide and 500 km of high mounted between the Slovakia, the Czech Republic and South of the Poland. This area stretches of Bratislava in the southwest to the South of Krakow. This region is itself in a slightly larger set including the Czech Republic (Skoda, PSA-Toyota), southwest of the Poland, but also the Hungary (Suzuki and the Group VW to Györ engine plant).

Improvement of road infrastructure

For the time, the North of the Slovakia, and any particularly Zilina region is coming Kia (see pages 9 and 10) lack of effective channels of communication. This western part of the Carpathian crossing is not yet very easy. The road from ilina to the North to join the Czech Republic by Jablunka pass. Beyond this, it becomes possible to join the axis Brno-Krakow.

Already, the automotive industry is the engine of the economy of the Slovakia and everything especially if one is interested in export: 30.7 of the volume corresponding to the 895 billion Slovak crowns came from automobile in 2004. Tomorrow, with capabilities in addition to one million units, the country will be the second producer of Central Europe, just behind the Czech Republic and slightly ahead of the Poland. CSM Worldwide provided that the production of vehicles in Slovakia will have more than quadrupled from 2005 to 2012, from $ 177.000 to 835.000 units. This increase will have a ripple effect on suppliers and subcontractors of the country, but also on the development of road and rail infrastructure.

Equipment suppliers are already strongly implanted in the country, both for reasons of cost, but also to deliver website Volkswagen of Devinska Nová Ves. The localities of Lozomo, Devin and Nitra focus the most important suppliers of Volkswagen: Faurecia, Grupo Antolin, Hella, Küstler, Brose, Behr Hella, Inergy, Johnson Controls, Lear, Plastic Omnium, VW Bordnetze or Visteon. The PSA of Trnava site, installed 40 km of Volkswagen, is naturally the same pool of suppliers. Note that US Steel is the operator of the gigantic steel complex in Kosice in the East of the country. It employed more than 35,000 persons in the great era of the planned socialist economy. In 2007, US Steel will have a new line for the manufacture of steel galvanized hot capable of responding to the needs of the automotive industry. From Kosice, Kechnec, town near the Hungarian border, Getrag Ford invests EUR 345 million in a plant for the manufacture of gearboxes production should start in 2007. This site will employ 750 people and export 100 of its manufacturing.

OEMs have outstripped the builders!

In addition, North of Zilina, equipment suppliers in the South of the Poland are also many sites Fiat's Tychy and Bielsko-Biala and GM in Gliwice. For example, note that Tenneco Automotive has two production sites in this region. First to Gliwice enjoys the benefits of the Katowice Special economic zone. The second, at Rybnik, manufactures components for exhaust systems. Remember that the OEM settled in Central Europe since 1996 and has now five sites of production in Poland and Czech Republic. In addition, Tenneco has implemented two R & D centres in Rybnik and Gliwice. Delphi had followed the same idea and installed, as early as 2001, a technical centre for the development of dampers near Krakow.

BOX .

Faurecia accelerates in Slovakia

Already implemented in Slovakia, Devin, for Volkswagen, the OEM has built in Hlohovec, 30 km from the SAP of Trnava, a production site specializing in plastics factory. This plant will produce including bumpers and some elements of internal wrapping for the 207. In addition, Faurecia will have an Assembly site in just-in-time on industrial suppliers of Trnava Park.

Faurecia is also present in Kosice, in the East of the country, with a site of treatment of leather interior.