Production of passenger cars is currently growing faster in Central and Eastern Europe than in any other region of the world. Western Europe will see its passenger car manufacturing output rise by a meagre 2 per cent between 2002 and 2012, while North America will fare much worse with a fall of almost 15 per cent, according to the Global Insight consultancy. By contrast, Eastern Europe will register a production increase of 154 per cent in the same period. However, only a relatively small part of that phenomenal growth can be attributed to rising indigenous demand. With the exception of Russia - which is fast-approaching annual car sales of two million units, rivalling the size of Europe's biggest markets - the rest of Eastern and Central Europe's car-production clusters are acting mainly as export hubs. In particular, the Czech Republic and Slovakia have in recent years emerged as the recipients of significant foreign investment. European, Japanese and Korean car makers, together with many of their key suppliers, have opened factories in these two countries, with three-quarters of their output for export.
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