Rover may open plant in Slovakia
Car manufacturer MG Rover is considering Slovakia as a possible location to build its new £280m (€398m) production plant, official Slovak news agency TASR has reported.
Slovak Economy Minister Pavol Rusko was reported to say that Rover expressed interest in choosing a site in the eastern part of the country.
Rusko also said he would meet company officials later this month after his return from South Korea, where he meets representatives of Hyundai Motor.
Hyundai Motor is also seeking a site for an assembly plant in central Europe.
Slovak economy ministry officials were not available for comment.
Slovakia has attracted an increasing number of car industry companies in recent years, responding to a global slump in sales with a shift of production from western Europe to countries with cheaper workforces. The central European region is to join the European Union next year.
Slovakia's car industry is largely made up of of an assembly plant of Germany's Volkswagen, producing nearly 300,000 cars a year and growing steadily.
French PSA Peugeot Citroen is building a £500m (€710.5m) plant in western Slovakia and expects to produce 300,000 cars a year when the facility is completed in 2006.
Slovakia's automotive industry the key pillar of its economy and accounts for around one-fifth of the country's overall industrial sales.
