In the slow lane

Poland may soon even drop to third place - behind Slovakia - in terms of car production in the CEE.

At least the same number of cars is expected to be produced in Poland in 2006, as the main Polish producers are planning to maintain (Fiat in Tychy, Volkswagen in Poznań and FSO) or even increase (Opel in Gliwice) their production levels.

According to analysts, the problem is that while the Czech Republic and Slovak authorities have done much to attract new investments in the automotive sector, in Poland the market has received little help from the government.

"The reasons for this situation are simple. The number of new investments was in the past few years located either in Czech Republic or in Slovakia, but not in Poland," David Green, PriceWaterhouseCoopers' head of automotive-market analysis points out.

"Little can be done to reverse this state during the next few years," he says.