Volvo, Neoplan bus production plants gear up for export

Volvo's Centrum Przemyslu Produkcji Autobusow opened in Wroclaw yesterday. The factory, which cost $50 million, will start producing 1,100 buses and 1,400 chassis next year. Fifteen percent of the production will find its way to the Polish market and the rest will be exported to Central Europe. Another bus company, Neoplan, will also open a factory worth zl. 50 million - zl. 60 million in Bolechow near Poznan this year. It will produce 1,200 buses a year and at least half of the production will be designated for European Union (EU) markets. Foreign companies choose Poland as an investment location, because of lower labor costs. However the Polish market is too small and due to this most of the products are prepared for export. "Sales on the domestic market slumped. The only chance is export," said Neoplan Polska president Krzysztof Olszewski. A total of 457 buses were sold in Poland last year, which was a decrease of 328 compared to 1997. (Prawo i Gospodarka, page 1,3) M.M.