A new car plant in Poland? Why not? There are already Fiat, General Motors and Volkswagen. It’s time for Mercedes. However, according to Auto News Europe (ANE) there is another candidate: Romania. Klaus Meier from Mercedes-Benz cars says that there is “some truth in it. According to “PB” sources the company’s representatives have already visited PAIIZ (Polish Information and Foreign Investment Agency)
“Mercedes is one of the best car makes one can dream of. If it were true, it would be great news for us”, Wojciech Szelagowski, the PAIIZ vice President, says.
The representatives of Mercedes in Poland refused to make any comments.
Poland vs. Romania
According to an expert quoted by ANE each country has its strong points. For Poland one of them is good location, while in case of Romania lower labour costs. As for the investment value it may similar to the amount spent by General Motors on the Opel plant in Gliwice several years ago. Rafal Orlowski, from the Polish Chamber of Automotive Industry says it could be then 1.5 to 2 billion PLN. In his opinion the most likely location could be Dolny Slask (Lower Silesia) or the Lubuskie Voivodship which are close to the German border.
No relocating
At present there are 280,000 cars of Mercedes A and B manufactured annually. The plant is in Rastatt, Germany. The company assures (in order to calm down the trade unions) that building new factory, which is planned before 2011, does not mean closing down the old one.
Ewa Labno-Falecka, the spokesperson for Mercedes in Poland, says that both models are very important for the company and this year they will undergo an ‘anti-ageing’ treatment.