I was reading the following. Does anyone know if these manufacturers are affected by TS 16949?
Source:
<hr width="400">
Auto Suppliers Flock to Central European Car Boom
Mon January 19, 2004 01:19 AM ET
(Page 1 of 2)
By Martin Dokoupil
ZIAR NAD HRONOM, Slovakia (Reuters) - Deep amid the rusting pipes and gritty stacks of a dilapidated Slovak aluminum smelter, Peter Oslanec is trying to turn a huge hole in the ground into the heart of Slovakia's new boom trade.
Oslanec, a manager for German aluminum castings maker Rautenbach, is helping the company to fill its concrete pit with tonnes of equipment to build car engine housings.
An attractive mix of cheap skilled labor, proximity to western markets and approaching EU entry has already lured carmakers to shift production to central Europe's ex-Soviet satellites.
But Oslanec's outfit is part of a second wave of investors giving a further boost to the region's economy: the suppliers who build tires, windshields, dashboards, and other components that end up on the finished vehicles.
"The reason to come was logistics, to get closer to potential customers," said Oslanec. "You have to think about costs from a longer-term perspective," he added, pointing out that this part of the world is expected to become the company's new boom market.
CAR INDUSTRY ON FIRE
Wedged between the Czechs, Hungarians and Poles, Slovakia is at the core of what is fast becoming the heart of Europe's car industry.
A Volkswagen plant here produces 235,000 cars a year and accounts for over 15 percent of exports. It has long driven the economy, but more car makers are now flooding the region.
France's PSA Peugeot Citroen aims to finish a 300,000 car-a-year plant in western Slovakia by 2006, and has teamed up with Toyota in the Czech Republic to build a similar sized factory. British MG Rover and Japan's Honda are also scoping the region.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor also appears to favor Slovakia over Poland to build a 1.1 billion euro plant. If it decides so next month, analysts say Slovakia will lead the world in cars produced per capita by the end of the decade.
The big-name investments, huge by themselves, are also helping kindle a revival on other levels in Slovakia's economy, which suffered from bad management and corrupt, xenophobic governments following the fall of the Iron Curtain.
Source:
<hr width="400">
Auto Suppliers Flock to Central European Car Boom
Mon January 19, 2004 01:19 AM ET
(Page 1 of 2)
By Martin Dokoupil
ZIAR NAD HRONOM, Slovakia (Reuters) - Deep amid the rusting pipes and gritty stacks of a dilapidated Slovak aluminum smelter, Peter Oslanec is trying to turn a huge hole in the ground into the heart of Slovakia's new boom trade.
Oslanec, a manager for German aluminum castings maker Rautenbach, is helping the company to fill its concrete pit with tonnes of equipment to build car engine housings.
An attractive mix of cheap skilled labor, proximity to western markets and approaching EU entry has already lured carmakers to shift production to central Europe's ex-Soviet satellites.
But Oslanec's outfit is part of a second wave of investors giving a further boost to the region's economy: the suppliers who build tires, windshields, dashboards, and other components that end up on the finished vehicles.
"The reason to come was logistics, to get closer to potential customers," said Oslanec. "You have to think about costs from a longer-term perspective," he added, pointing out that this part of the world is expected to become the company's new boom market.
CAR INDUSTRY ON FIRE
Wedged between the Czechs, Hungarians and Poles, Slovakia is at the core of what is fast becoming the heart of Europe's car industry.
A Volkswagen plant here produces 235,000 cars a year and accounts for over 15 percent of exports. It has long driven the economy, but more car makers are now flooding the region.
France's PSA Peugeot Citroen aims to finish a 300,000 car-a-year plant in western Slovakia by 2006, and has teamed up with Toyota in the Czech Republic to build a similar sized factory. British MG Rover and Japan's Honda are also scoping the region.
South Korea's Hyundai Motor also appears to favor Slovakia over Poland to build a 1.1 billion euro plant. If it decides so next month, analysts say Slovakia will lead the world in cars produced per capita by the end of the decade.
The big-name investments, huge by themselves, are also helping kindle a revival on other levels in Slovakia's economy, which suffered from bad management and corrupt, xenophobic governments following the fall of the Iron Curtain.
