Where European Cars Are Actually Made – Part II

The brand name often refers to the country of the vehicle manufacturer. But this was the case several decades ago. Today the situation is very different. Thanks to the established export between countries and trade policy, cars are assembled in different parts of the world.

In the last review, we already drew attention to a number of countries in which models of famous brands are assembled. In this review, we will look at the second part of this long list. Let's remind: these are the countries of the Old Continent and only those factories that specialize in passenger transport.

United Kingdom

1. Goodwood - Rolls-Royce. In the late 1990s, BMW, a longtime supplier of engines to Rolls-Royce and Bentley, wanted to buy brand names from then-owner Vickers. At the last minute, VW stepped in, bid 25% higher and got the Crewe plant. But BMW was able to buy the rights to the Rolls-Royce brand and build an all-new plant in Goodwood for it - a plant that finally restored the quality of the legendary brand to what it once was. Last year was the strongest in Rolls-Royce history.
2. Woking - McLaren. For many years, it was only the headquarters and development center of the Formula 1 team of the same name. Then McLaren made the reference point for F1, and since 2010 it has been regularly engaged in the production of sports cars.
3. Dartford - Caterham. The production of this small track car continues to be based on the evolution of the legendary Lotus 7, created by Colin Chapman in the 50s.
4. Swindon - Honda. The Japanese plant, built in the 1980s, was one of the first victims of Brexit - a year ago Honda announced it would close it in 2021. Until then, the Civic hatchback will be produced here.
5. Saint Athan - Aston Martin Lagonda. The British sports car maker has built a new factory for its resurgent luxury limousine subsidiary, as well as its first crossover, the DBX.
6. Oxford - MINI. The former Morris Motors plant was completely rebuilt when BMW acquired the brand as part of Rover. Today it produces the five-door MINI, as well as the Clubman and the new electric Cooper SE.
7. Malvern - Morgan. The British classic sports car manufacturer - so classic that the chassis of most models is still wooden. Since last year, it has been owned by the Italian holding InvestIndustrial.
8. Hayden - Aston Martin. Since 2007, this state-of-the-art plant has taken over all sports car production, and the original Newport Pagnell workshop today focuses on restoring classic Aston models.
9. Solihull - Jaguar Land Rover. Once established as a secret enterprise in the military-industrial complex, today the Solihull plant assembles the Range Rover, Range Rover Sport, Range Rover Velar and Jaguar F-Pace.
10. Castle Bromwich - Jaguar. During World War II, Spitfire fighters were produced here. Today they are being replaced by the Jaguar XF, XJ and F-Type.
11. Coventry - Geely. At two factories, the Chinese giant has concentrated the production of special London taxis, bought several years ago. Even electric versions are assembled on one of them.
12. Hull, near Norwich - Lotus. This former military airport has been home to Lotus since 1966. After the death of the legendary Colin Chapman, the company passed into the hands of GM, Italian Romano Artioli and Malaysian Proton. Today it belongs to the Chinese Geely.
13. Bernaston - Toyota. Until recently, Avensis was produced here, which the Japanese abandoned. Now the plant mainly produces Corolla for the Western European markets - a hatchback and a sedan.
14. Crewe - Bentley. The plant was founded during World War II as a secret production site for Rolls-Royce aircraft engines. Since 1998, when Rolls-Royce and Bentley split up, only second class cars have been produced here.
15. Ellesmere - Opel / Vauxhall. Since the 1970s, this plant has been assembling mainly compact Opel models - first the Kadett, then the Astra. However, his survival is now in question due to the uncertainty surrounding Brexit. If the duty-free regime is not agreed with the EU, PSA will close the plant.
16. Halewood - Land Rover. Currently, the production of more compact crossovers - Land Rover Discovery Sport and Range Rover Evoque is concentrated here.
17. Garford - Ginetta. A small British company that manufactures limited edition sports and track cars.
18. Sunderland - Nissan. Largest Nissan investment in Europe and one of the largest factories on the continent. He currently makes the Qashqai, Leaf and the new Juke.

Italy

1. Sant'Agata Bolognese - Lamborghini. The classic factory was completely rebuilt and significantly expanded to take over the production of the first SUV model, the Urus. Huracan and Aventador are also produced here.
2. San Cesario sul Panaro - Pagani. This town near Modena is home to the headquarters and Pagani's only workshop, which employs 55 people.
3. Maranello - Ferrari. Since Enzo Ferrari moved his company here in 1943, all major Ferrari models have been produced in this plant. Today the plant also supplies engines for Maserati.
4. Modena - Fiat Chrysler. A plant created for the purchase of more prestigious models of the Italian concern. Today it is the Maserati GranCabrio and GranTurismo, as well as the Alfa Romeo 4C.
5. Macchia d'Isernia - DR. Founded in 2006 by Massimo Di Risio, the company retrofitted Chinese Chery models with gas systems and sold them in Europe under the DR brand.
6. Cassino - Alfa Romeo. The factory was built in 1972 for the needs of Alfa Romeo, and before the revival of the Guilia brand, the company completely rebuilt it. Today Giulia and Stelvio are produced here.
7. Pomigliano d'Arco. The production of the best-selling model of the brand - Panda is concentrated here.
8. Melfi - Fiat. Fiat's most modern plant in Italy, which today, however, mainly produces Jeep - Renegade and Compass, and is also based on the American Fiat 500X platform.
9. Miafiori - Fiat. Fiat's headquarters and for many years the main production base, opened by Mussolini in the 1930s. Today, two very contrasting models are produced here - the small Fiat 500 and the impressive Maserati Levante.
10. Grugliasco - Maserati. The factory, founded in 1959, today bears the name of the late Giovanni Agnelli. Maserati Quattroporte and Ghibli are manufactured here.

Poland

1. Tychy - Fiat. Fabryka Samochodow Malolitrazowych (FSM) is a Polish company founded in the 1970s for the licensed production of Fiat 125 and 126. After the changes, the plant was acquired by Fiat and today produces Fiat 500 and 500C, as well as Lancia Ypsilon.
2. Gliwice - Opel. The plant, built at the time by Isuzu and later acquired by GM, produces engines as well as the Opel Astra.
3. Wrzenia, Poznan - Volkswagen. Both the cargo and passenger versions of the Caddy and T6 are produced here.

Chech republic

1. Nosovice - Hyundai. This plant, according to the original plan of the Koreans, was supposed to be in Varna, but for some reason they did not manage to get along with the government of Ivan Kostov. Today the Hyundai i30, ix20 and Tucson are manufactured in Nošovice. The plant is very close to Kia's Slovak plant in Zilina, which makes logistics easier.
2. Kvasins - Skoda. Skoda's second Czech plant started with the Fabia and Roomster, but today it produces more prestigious models - Karoq, Kodiaq and Superb. In addition, a very close to Karoq Seat Ateca is produced here.
3. Mlada Boleslav - Skoda. The original factory and the heart of the Skoda brand, whose first car was built here in 1905. Today it mainly manufactures Fabia and Octavia and is preparing for the production of the first mass-produced electric vehicle.
4. Colin - PSA. This joint venture between PSA and Toyota was dedicated to co-development of the small town model, the Citroen C1, Peugeot 108 and Toyota Aygo, respectively. However, the plant is owned by PSA.

Slovakia

1. Zilina - Kia. The only European plant of the Korean company produces Ceed and Sportage.
2. Nitra - Jaguar Land Rover. Largest company investment outside the UK. The new plant will feature the latest generation Land Rover Discovery and Land Rover Defender.
3. Trnava - Peugeot, Citroen. The factory specializes in compact models - Peugeot 208 and Citroen C3.
4. Bratislava - Volkswagen. One of the most important factories in the group as a whole, which produces the VW Touareg, Porsche Cayenne, Audi Q7 and Q8, as well as virtually all components for the Bentley Bentayga. In addition, a small VW Up!

Hungary

1. Debrecen - BMW. Construction of the plant with a capacity of about 150 vehicles per year began this spring. It is not yet clear what will be assembled there, but the plant is suitable for both models with internal combustion engines and for electric vehicles.
2. Kecskemet - Mercedes. This rather large and modern plant produces classes A and B, CLA in all their varieties. Mercedes recently completed construction of a second workshop that will produce rear-wheel drive models.
3. Esztergom - Suzuki. The European versions of the Swift, SX4 S-Cross and Vitara are made here. The last generation of Baleno was also Hungarian.
4. Gyor - Audi. The German plant in Gyереr primarily produces engines. But apart from them, the sedan and the A3 versions, as well as TT and Q3 are assembled here.

Croatia

Light-Week - Rimac. Starting in the garage, the Mate Rimac electric supercar business is gaining momentum and today supplies technology to Porsche and Hyundai, which are also its main shareholders.

Slovenia

Novo-Mesto - Renault. It is here that the new generation of Renault Clio is produced, as well as Twingo and its twin Smart Forfour.

Austria

Graz - Magna Steyr. The former Steyr-Daimler-Puch plant, now owned by Canada's Magna, has a long tradition of building cars for other brands. Now there's the BMW 5 Series, the new Z4 (as well as the very close Toyota Supra), the electric Jaguar I-Pace and, of course, the legendary Mercedes G-Class.

Romania

1. Myoveni - Dacia. Duster, Logan and Sandero are now produced in the brand's original Romanian factory. The rest of the models - Dokker and Lodgy - are from Morocco.
2. Craiova - Ford. Former Oltcit plant, later privatized by Daewoo and later taken over by Ford. Today it builds the Ford EcoSport, as well as engines for other models.

Serbia

Kragujevac - Fiat. The former Zastava plant, set up for licensed production of the Fiat 127, is now owned by the Italian company and produces the Fiat 500L.

Turkey

1. Bursa - Oyak Renault. This joint venture, in which Renault owns 51%, is one of the largest factories of the French brand and has won the best prize for several years in a row. Clio and Megane sedan are made here.
2. Bursa - Tofas. Another joint venture, this time between Fiat and Turkey's Koch Holding. This is where the Fiat Tipo is produced, as well as the passenger version of the Doblo. Koch also has a joint venture with Ford, but currently only manufactures vans and trucks.
3. Gebze - Honda. This plant produces a sedan version of the Honda Civic, while the British plant in Swindon produces a hatchback version. However, both factories will be closed next year.
4. Izmit - Hyundai. It produces the smallest models of the Korean company for Europe - i10 and i20.
5. Adapazars - Toyota. This is where most of the Corolla, CH-R and Verso offered in Europe come from.

Russia

1. Kaliningrad - Avtotor. Russian protectionist tariffs force all manufacturers to import their cars in cardboard boxes and assemble them in Russia. One such company is Avtotor, which builds the BMW 3- and 5-Series and the entire X range, including the X7; as well as Kia Ceed, Optima, Sorento, Sportage and Mohave.
2. St. Petersburg - Toyota. Assembly plant for Camry and RAV4 for the markets of Russia and a number of other former Soviet republics.
3. St. Petersburg - Hyundai. It produces two of the three best-selling models on the Russian market - Hyundai Solaris and Kia Rio.
4. St. Petersburg - AVTOVAZ. This plant of the Russian subsidiary of Renault actually assembles Nissan – X-Trail, Qashqai and Murano.
5. Kaluga - Mitsubishi. The plant is engaged in the assembly of Outlander, but according to long-standing partnerships it also produces Peugeot Expert, Citroen C4 and Peugeot 408 - the last two models have long been discontinued in Europe, but are sold easily in Russia.
6. Grabtsevo, Kaluga - Volkswagen. Here they assemble Audi A4, A5, A6 and Q7, VW Tiguan and Polo, as well as Skoda Octavia.
7. Tula - Great Wall Motor. Assembly shop for Haval H7 and H9 crossover.
8. Esipovo, Moscow - Mercedes. A modern plant built in 2017-2018 that currently produces the E-class, but will also start production of SUVs in the future.
9. Moscow - Rostek. Our familiar Dacia Duster (which is sold in Russia as Renault Duster), as well as Captur and Nissan Terrano still living in the Russian market, are assembled here.
10. Nizhny Novgorod - GAZ. The Gorky Automobile Plant continues to operate and produce GAZ, Gazelle, Sobol, as well as, thanks to various joint ventures, Chevrolet, Skoda and Mercedes models (light trucks).
11. Ulyanovsk - Sollers-Isuzu. The old UAZ plant continues to produce its own SUVs (Patriots) and pickups, as well as Isuzu models for the Russian market.
12. Izhevsk - Avtovaz. Lada Vesta, Lada Granta as well as compact Nissan models such as the Tiida are produced here.
13. Togliatti - Lada. The entire city was built after the VAZ plant and named after the Italian communist politician who received a license from Fiat at the time. Today Lada Niva, Granta sedan, as well as all Dacia models are produced here, but in Russia they are sold either as Lada or Renault.
14. Cherkessk - Derways. Factory for assembling various Chinese models from Lifan, Geely, Brilliance, Chery.
15. Lipetsk - Lifan Group. One of the largest private car companies in China, collecting here its models for the markets of Russia, Kazakhstan and a number of other Central Asian republics.

Ukraine

1. Zaporozhye - Ukravto. The former plant for the legendary "Cossacks" still produces two models with the ZAZ brand, but mainly assembles Peugeot, Mercedes, Toyota, Opel, Renault and Jeep, delivered in boxes.
2. Kremenchuk - Avtokraz. The main production here is KrAZ trucks, but the plant also assembles Ssangyong vehicles.
3. Cherkasy - Bogdan Motors. This fairly modern plant with a capacity of 150 vehicles annually assembles the Hyundai Accent and Tucson, as well as two Lada models.
4. Solomonovo - Skoda. Assembly plant for Octavia, Kodiaq and Fabia, which also assembles Audi A4 and A6 as well as Seat Leon.

Belarus

1. Minsk - Unison. This state-owned company assembles some Peugeot-Citroen and Chevrolet models, but has recently focused on Chinese Zotye crossovers.
2. Zhodino - Geely. The city of Zhodino is mainly famous for the production of super-heavy trucks Belaz, but recently a completely new Geely plant has been operating here, where Coolray, Atlas and Emgrand models are assembled.