Poland
The automotive industry is the second largest industry sector in Poland, accounting for nearly 10,1% of total Poland industry revenue and directly supporting 202,700 jobs. The country size, regional diversity, and access to human resources are special advantages of Poland in the Central Europe region contributing to further development of automotive industry. There are over 660 first and second-tier subcontracted companies in Poland and five vehicle manufacturing plants (2 x VW, FCA and PSA Group including the Opel plant and Daimler plant), 6 bus factories (Solaris, MAN, Scania, Volvo, Autosan, URSUS/AMZ) and one MAN truck factory. Poland specializes in the production of car engines, e.g., Volkswagen, Toyota (two plants), FCA engine plants, Opel and the Daimler plants.
The automotive sector is one of the key sectors for the Polish government. The principal forms of support for investors in the automotive sector include:
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The electromobility sector is an official priority for the country. There are special programs created by the Polish government, which may amount to 19.4 billion PLN over the next ten years providing financial support for development of electromobility industry in Poland. In 2016, the Ministry of Energy adopted the Electromobility Development Plan, which is to contribute to strengthening Poland's economic growth, and assumes that by 2025 there will be a million electric cars on Polish roads. Unfortunately, due to pandemic situation the implementation of these programs is delayed.
Nevertheless, the number of electric vehicles has doubled and the number of electric vehicles charging stations has also increased. Poland has become a basin for factories building for electric vehicles batteries or their components. Daimler is constructing a second production branch dedicated to production of electric batteries, which should start operates this year. LG Chem, one of the largest producers of e-car batteries has a factory in Kobierzyce near Wrocław. SK Innovation, Foosung, KET and Euchem will open their plants of batteries in Poland. Also, the British company Johnson Matthey will build a plant in Konin producing advanced materials for batteries for electric cars.
Next year the ElectroMobility Poland will build a factory producing the first Polish electric vehicle and the Industrial Development Agency (ARP) group in Solec Kujawski started the production of electric buses.
Summary
U.S. Exporters seeking to sell products in the European Union and its member states must undergo a thorough assessment of, and ensure compliance with, existing European Commission Directives, i.e. regulatory requirements regarding technical specifications, product safety, as well as environmental impact & footprint. In addition to compliance with the legal requirements of an EU member state as well as relevant EC/UNECE directives and regulations, U.S. exporters are advised to asses and obtain evidence of compliance with relevant technical norms and standards via an accredited testing &
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