PLANS for the arrival of a new Indian car manufacturing plant in Slovakia have apparently fallen through, the Hospodárske Noviny daily wrote in late May. Daniela Piršelová, spokesperson for the Ministry of Economy, told the daily that the ministry has received no official application for support of the investment, nor do they have any information about any further plans.
According to reports, plans for the Indian carmaker were solid last spring. The investment had been confirmed not only by the ministry, but also by the parent company of the carmaker, Vectra Group, the daily wrote. With a planned investment of about €60 million, the plant was projected to employ about 1,000 Slovaks in the manufacture of 20,000 to 30,000 electric cars annually near Bánovce nad Bebravou, where Vectra Group has a production unit.
The daily also reported that plans by Chinese carmaker JAC to produce cars in Slovakia have failed as well.
According to Róbert Kičina, the executive director of the Business Alliance of Slovakia (PAS): "Producing in Slovakia was apparently not advantageous enough given the higher production costs." He added that since the planned arrival of the carmaker was announced just prior to the parliamentary election, it might have been part of a pre-election campaign aimed at increasing the popularity of certain politicians who had claimed credit for the projects.
