The Slovaks recently won the bid to produce Audi's new Q7 SUV, beating out VW's west European plants for the job. The Bratislava factory, which now churns out 250,000 cars a year, is the most profitable of 42 Volkswagen plants worldwide, thanks to low labor costs, flexible manufacturing, and a motivated workforce. "The secrect is the mindset of the 10,000 employees. It's a culture of fighting to win," says Thomas Schmall, chairman of Volkswagen Slovakia. "The unions come and ask us how we can increase business and how hey can help create jobs."

That's not the attitude of VW's truculent German unions, which have saddled Volkswagen with the highest labor costs in the industry-close to $50 an hour for a 28-hour workweek. In contrast, Slovaks cost $6 an hour and work a 40-hour week.

 

The Czech Republic and Slovakia are the hub of Detroit East. By the end of 2006 the two small countries will be producing some 2 million cars a year, compared with a mere 170,000 in 1990.
Across the entire region, the auto industry is quickly becoming a growth engine. Volkswagen, which has invested $1.8 billion in Slovakia, is the country's largest exporter. In the Czech Republic, autos represent 20% of industrial output. The auto driven boom is also changing the landscape. Roads are being paved and widened, new hyperstores are being built, and factories are mushrooming. Ten minutes from VW's Bratislava plant is a housing enclave dubbed "Hollywood Hills" by the locals. These prosperous new managers live in gracious homes with neatly manicured gardens. VW employees, who can rise through the ranks and increase their monthly salary from $420 a month to as much as $840, nearly double the country's average income, are focused on education, career moves, and mortages.

1) There are a number of English terms in the text you should try to understand:
'retooled'; 'benchmarks'; 'kicking up dust'; 'recently won the bid'; 'churns out'; 'mindset'; 'truculent'; 'saddled Volkswagen'; 'the hub of Detroit East'; 'dubbed Hollywood Hills'; 'manicured gardens'; 'mortage'

2) Explain the use of 'rise' and 'raise'.

3) How many workers are directly and indirectly employed in Western Europe's car industry? Make a guess, search the internet.

4) What are the countries of Central and East Europe? Take a map.

5) Discuss the effects of 'Detroit East' on West and East European workers.

6) Ever moving East, parts suppliers are already setting up shops in Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia. Why wouldn't they set up branches in Africa?

7) Ask your teacher for a copy of the full article.

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