Ford and Getrag joint venture to build plant in Slovakia

Getrag Ford Transmissions, a joint venture between U.S. automaker Ford Motor Co. and Germany's Getrag Group, announced Thursday it plans to build a $400 million auto parts plant in eastern Slovakia. The company said it plans to build a production facility for new-technology transmissions. Production is tentatively set to start in early 2007. The new plant should employ about 750 people and be located in an industrial park in eastern Slovakia. Its entire production will be targeted for export, mainly within the European Union. According to a news release, Slovakia's Ministry of Economy and Getrag Ford Transmissions signed a memorandum of understanding in which the company expressed its intention to establish a new production facility in Slovakia. The Slovak government still needs to approve the investment as the plan also includes investment incentives of up to three billion koruna ($102 million). Economics Minister Pavol Rusko said he expects the government to deal with the issue early next year. "Slovakia is an excellent potential location for our planned investments," Tobias Hagenmeyer, CEO at Getrag Ford Transmissions, said in the statement. "We very much hope that we will be able to develop our plans successfully with the Slovakian government and reach a final agreement shortly."