Chinese Car Plant Opened in Bulgaria
Everyones talking about it: the Chinese superpower is rising. Of course this becomes all the more obvious once you take a look at various statistics about China, but this recent report underlines a trend that will most likely persist in to the future.
[link:http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,816851,00.html|
Spiegel Online International] reported a few weeks ago that China had opened its first car plant in Europe. A Bulgarian village called Bahovitsa is now home to Great Wall Motor. The article notes, It used to be that European carmakers opened plants to assemble their cars in China. Now the Chinese have turned the tables with the opening of their first factory in Bulgaria, an EU country with low labor costs and taxes. Increasingly, Chinese carmakers are setting their sights on the European and American automobile markets. Bulgarias Litex motors will join Great Wall in managing the company.
Great Wall has an impressive plan for the next three to five years, according to the article. Some test assemblies already began in November. Generally Great Wall aims to assemble some 50,000 cars per year. Bulgaria and other Eastern European countries are the first target markets, but plans of expansion in to Western European markets are of course the long-term goal.