Are such concerns exaggerated, or is the government planning a major initiative to deal with the problem?
AUTO INDUSTRY Gearing up Nothing better illustrates Slovakia’s emergence as the leading magnet for foreign investment in Central Europe than the explosive growth of its automotive industry over the past five years. Little Slovakia has outdueled the former East Germany as the site for a Volkswagen factory. It convinced French carmaker PSA Peugeot Citroën to manufacture vehicles in western Slovakia instead of expanding an existing facility in Hungary. And after pushing aside a bid by the Czech Republic, it has managed to get short-listed along with Poland as the potential recipient of South Korean automaker Hyundai Motor Co.’s first assembly plant in Europe. Whether or not Hyundai’s final decision favors Slovakia, says Economy Minister Pavol Rusko, “we have every chance to become the industrial tiger of Central Europe.” U.S. Ambassador Ronald Weiser, who as a former businessman from Michigan ought to know something about the auto industry, envisions a new Detroit rising on the Danube. “A
