Automobile Industry Poland

GM to Build Factory in Poland: General Motors Corp. and local authorities in the southern Polish city of Gliwice signed an agreement to build the $325-million auto plant. Mayor Zygmunt Frankiewicz said construction of the factory should begin within several months. The plant will be built for the Detroit-based auto maker's German subsidiary Adam Opel.

To Zbigniew Dabek, 45, a Polish auto worker, globalization means learning not only to make Korean cars but also to eat fiery kimchi with chopsticks. He will pass on the half-cooked octopus. And his lip could not but curl when asked about the vivisected, still-wriggling fish dish. "But I like very much this kimchi," said the diplomatic Pole of the spicy pickled cabbage that is Korea's culinary passion.

Poland, Fiat in Auto Venture: Poland signed a $2-billion contract with Fiat giving the Italian auto maker a 90% share in Poland's state-owned FSM car factory. It is the biggest foreign investment ever in Poland. Under the pact, FSM will be turned into a joint stock company, with the Polish side holding a 10% share.

The Evil Empire. A threat to freedom, democracy and the American way of life. The arsenal that imperiled the world. Thomas Kirkham doesn't discourage the apocalyptic portrayal of the PZL defense plant in southern Poland, an immense, super-secure aerospace facility the size of a small air base. "It's where the Soviets manufactured their best fighter jets," emphasizes Kirkham, a retired Air Force flight-test engineer who appreciates the menace of those MiGs.

To Zbigniew Dabek, 45, a Polish auto worker, globalization means learning not only to make Korean cars but also to eat fiery kimchi with chopsticks. He will pass on the half-cooked octopus. And his lip could not but curl when asked about the vivisected, still-wriggling fish dish. "But I like very much this kimchi," said the diplomatic Pole of the spicy pickled cabbage that is Korea's culinary passion.

Jerzy Wozniak has been on deathwatch since the collapse of communism six years ago. As the Solidarity trade union leader at Poland's largest state-owned car maker, Wozniak has been privy to reams of bleak financial news. The ailing manufacturer, he says, cannot survive in a competitive market without slashing thousands of jobs. "Time is running out on us," said Wozniak, a 26-year employee of Fabryka Samochodow Osobowych (FSO), which has 21,000 workers. "Everyone realizes that."

The Evil Empire. A threat to freedom, democracy and the American way of life. The arsenal that imperiled the world. Thomas Kirkham doesn't discourage the apocalyptic portrayal of the PZL defense plant in southern Poland, an immense, super-secure aerospace facility the size of a small air base. "It's where the Soviets manufactured their best fighter jets," emphasizes Kirkham, a retired Air Force flight-test engineer who appreciates the menace of those MiGs.

It looks like a baby's shoe with wheels attached. It is cranky, noisy, suffers horribly in cold weather and goes from zero to 60 in about half a day. But it does go, and, as Poles say, you have to love it. It is the people's car, the maly (small) Fiat. Or maluch , as it is called--a word that once meant "baby" but now refers almost exclusively to the tiny Italian-designed vehicle, produced under license in Poland since 1973.

General Motors Corp. is planning to build a car plant in Poland after apparently losing a race with South Korea's Daewoo to take over the state-owned FSO factory, officials said Thursday. GM's German unit, Adam Opel, has sent a letter to the government offering to invest $280 million in a project to build 100,000 cars annually beginning in 1998, industry ministry spokeswoman Beata Nawracka said. An Opel spokesman in Dusseldorf, Germany, confirmed the plan.

GM to Build Factory in Poland: General Motors Corp. and local authorities in the southern Polish city of Gliwice signed an agreement to build the $325-million auto plant. Mayor Zygmunt Frankiewicz said construction of the factory should begin within several months. The plant will be built for the Detroit-based auto maker's German subsidiary Adam Opel.

General Motors Corp. is planning to build a car plant in Poland after apparently losing a race with South Korea's Daewoo to take over the state-owned FSO factory, officials said Thursday. GM's German unit, Adam Opel, has sent a letter to the government offering to invest $280 million in a project to build 100,000 cars annually beginning in 1998, industry ministry spokeswoman Beata Nawracka said. An Opel spokesman in Dusseldorf, Germany, confirmed the plan.

Jerzy Wozniak has been on deathwatch since the collapse of communism six years ago. As the Solidarity trade union leader at Poland's largest state-owned car maker, Wozniak has been privy to reams of bleak financial news. The ailing manufacturer, he says, cannot survive in a competitive market without slashing thousands of jobs. "Time is running out on us," said Wozniak, a 26-year employee of Fabryka Samochodow Osobowych (FSO), which has 21,000 workers. "Everyone realizes that."

AlliedSignal Inc. to Acquire Polish Firm: The company said it has agreed to buy the brakes business of Fiat Auto Poland for an undisclosed price. The unit is expected to generate sales of more than $30 million in 1995. The deal includes part of a Fiat plant in Twargodora, Poland, which AlliedSignal plans to modernize and expand. The plant employs 800 people and also makes steering components, a business Fiat will retain.

It looks like a baby's shoe with wheels attached. It is cranky, noisy, suffers horribly in cold weather and goes from zero to 60 in about half a day. But it does go, and, as Poles say, you have to love it. It is the people's car, the maly (small) Fiat. Or maluch , as it is called--a word that once meant "baby" but now refers almost exclusively to the tiny Italian-designed vehicle, produced under license in Poland since 1973.