This book examines the dramatic increase in automotive assembly plants in the former Socialist Central European (CE) nations of Czechia, East Germany, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia from 1989 onwards. Enticed by relatively lower-wage labour and significant government incentives, the worlds largest automakers have launched more than 20 passenger car assembly complexes in CE nations, with production accelerating dramatically since 2001. As a result, the annual passenger car production in Western Europe declined by more than 20% between 2001 and 2015, and alternatively in the CEE it increased by nearly 170% during this period. Drawing on case studies of 25 current and former foreign-run assembly plants, the author presents a rare historical account of automotive foreign assembly plants in the CE following this dramatic geographic shift. This book will expand the knowledge of policy-makers in Europe in relation to their pursuits of FDI and will be of great interest to scholars and students of business, economic history, political science, and development.

A. J. Jacobs is Associate Professor at East Carolina Universitys Department of Sociology, USA. He has been a Visiting Fellow at Brussels Centre for Urban Studies, Belgium, and with the Faculty of Business Administration at Hosei University, Japan. Jacobs has published more than 30 scholarly articles, chapters, and books on regional development issues in North America, Europe, and East Asia, focusing upon the automotive industry, includingThe New Domestic Automakersin the U.S. and Canada: History, Impacts, and Prospects(2016).

1. Introduction and Overview.- 2. Two Blocs to One Market: The Shift East of Auto Production in Post-Socialist Europe.- 3. Foreign Passenger Car Plants in Post-Socialist Poland.- 4. Passenger Car Plants Before and After the Former East Germany.- 5. Foreign Carmakers in Post-Socialist Czechia.- 6. Foreign Automakers in Independent Slovakia.- 7. Foreign Car Plants in Post-Socialist Hungary.- 8. The Next Ring: The Emerging Southeast Europe Auto Zone.- 9. Conclusions and Future Auto FDI Prospects for CE and SEE Nations.