date=4/28/95
type=correspondent report
number=2-177698
title=E Euro Cars (l-only)
byline=Barry Wood
dateline=Prague
content=
voiced at:
Intro: The automobile industry in Eastern Europe and the former
Soviet Union is beginning to recover after nearly a decade of
decline. V-o-A's Barry Wood reports from Prague that there is a
tremendous demand for cars in the east and that bodes well for
the region's auto industry.
Text: 1994 was a pivotal year for the East European car
industry. Production began to recover from the transformation
recession that had sent output sharply lower from the already
depressed levels of the late 1980s. Poland's car market was the
first to recover with output rising as early as 1992. Last year,
Poland produced over 300-thousand cars and the domestic market
grew by three percent.
In the communist period, the biggest car producers were Vaz and
Moskvich in Russia, but their output is still declining. Poland
and the Czech Republic, meanwhile, have raced ahead, helped by
big cash infusions from western partners.
In Poland, the leading car producer is Fiat, whose nine polish
plants account for over half of total car production in the
country. In the Czech Republic, Skoda, as early as 1990, entered
into a buyout agreement with Volkswagen, Germany's largest and
the world's fourth largest car maker. The V-W and Fiat
investments in Poland and the Czech Republic are among the
largest investments yet made in post-communist Europe.
Both Fiat and V-W are using their East European plants as a low
cost production base for exporting to the west. The new Skoda
Felicia--the first V-W developed car in the Czech Republic--is
built largely for export, even though it is already the most
popular car with Czech consumers. In 1994, Skoda produced
180-thousand cars, a substantial increase from what was produced
under communism.
The East European car market is underdeveloped. The car market
in all of Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union this year
will be no more than one point one million vehicles. That is
below the level of 1987. By contrast, the West European car
market is 12 times bigger, 12 million vehicles. // Opt // more
cars are sold in Britain than in all of Eastern Europe. In
Western Germany, there are 500 cars per 1000 people. In the
Czech Republic there are only 200 vehicles per 1000 people. And,
in Russia, there are only 46 cars per 1000 people.// End opt //
The car market is also recovering in Hungary even though that
country was never a big producer. Romania, the region's other
major car producer, has not yet recovered.
Western partners have invested over two billion dollars in the
eastern car industry. Experts say that trend will continue.
Ford and General Motors are the latest entrants to the Polish
market. The western producers are lured by the promise of high
quality output and wages that are often ten times lower than in
Western Europe. (Signed)
neb/bdw/skh/gpt
28-Apr-95 12:02 pm edt (1602 utc)
nnnn
source: Voice of America
*****************************************************************
A tovabbterjesztest a New York-i szekhelyu Magyar Emberi Jogok
Alapitvany tamogatja.
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*][*] [*][*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
[*][*][*] [*][*][*] [*][*] [*][*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
[*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*] [*]
Reposting is supported by Hungarian Human Rights Foundation News
and Information Service.
*****************************************************************
|
