Mercedes-Benz has chosen Timis County as the location for a new plant that will assemble future generations of the A and B Klasse model, according to sources on the market, confirmed by the statements made by Trade Minister Ovidiu Silaghi among others.
"Besides Mercedes and Mitsubishi, Audi, the luxury division of the German carmaker Volkswagen wants to manufacture vehicles in Romania. Each of them is currently looking at several locations and trying to find a suitable plot of land. Those at Mercedes did find some land in Oradea, which initially appeared suitable. However, they discovered problems with underground water that would have prevented them from starting manufacturing operations. As far as I know, they seem to have gone to Timisoara," Silaghi said.
He added Audi was also interested in launching production in Romania. "Audi is still in the early stages and I cannot provide any more details about possible locations. On the other hand, I know the people at Mitsubishi are intently looking for a suitable plot of land in Romania to begin automotive production," Silaghi explained.
Although sources on the automotive market said a few months ago that Mitsubishi might use the Aro Campulung site, Premier Tariceanu stated last week that the Japanese carmaker would not invest in the area.
The Prime Minister made the announcement in a meeting with the representatives of small and medium-sized enterprises in Campulung, at the launch of the guide for taking out community funds.
"You can forget this talk about Mitsubishi investing in Campulung, the investor will not come here. Unfortunately, this is just wishful thinking, because geographically speaking, the logistical transportation costs are too high," Tariceanu told entrepreneurs in the area.
In an official meeting between Tariceanu and a delegation from Mitsubishi, which was lead by the company's chairman Osama Masuko at the beginning of March, the Prime Minister told the Japanese party that the automotive industry in Romania is now one of the most powerful industrial branches in the country, and the development of the sector will continue to be regarded as a priority by the authorities, both in terms of actual production and in terms of subassemblies and components.
The first major carmaker to arrive in Romania was Renault, which took over Automobile Dacia in 1999 and has invested 972 million euros so far, both in upgrading the plant and boosting the production capacity to 350,000 vehicles this year, a figure that is set to reach 400,000 units in 2009, with two thirds destined for export.
In turn, Ford Motor Company, which bought 72.4% in Automobile Craiova for 57 million euros, will invest up to 675 million euros in the former Daewoo plant to expand production capacities to 300,000 units by 2012, 90% of which will be exported, while the number of employees will double to almost 7,000. The spending of the American carmaker will reach 1 billion euros by 2012.
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