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European car industry looks east

Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are attracting the highest levels of inward investment in the automotive components sector in Europe, a new Ernst & Young report reveals today.

Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic are attracting the highest levels of inward investment in the automotive components sector in Europe, a new Ernst & Young report reveals today.

According to the European Investment Monitor (EIM), the number of automotive component projects commissioned in the Czech Republic exceeds that of any other European country, increasing from only four in 1997 to 20 in 2005.

The Ernst & Young study also recorded Slovakia and Poland in second and third place, with 18 and 17 projects respectively, ahead of the UK with only nine - a tenth of the total number of projects.

Eric Wallbank, Automotive Director, Ernst & Young, said, "As the Central and Eastern European markets have opened up and increased in attractiveness, so a number of volume automotive manufacturers have placed new car plants in these lower-cost economies. The supply chain is naturally following."

The growth of the Slovakian share of investment projects demonstrates the most dramatic increase, from one project in 1997 to 17 in 2005.

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