For more than a century, Flanders has been a region at the forefront of European automotive manufacturing and assembly. In an exclusive briefing with WORLD TRADE, ministry officials note the region's assembly industry turns out more than a million autos a year--a higher production concentration than anywhere else in the world. Within a radius of just 40 miles, Ford produces the Mondeo and Transit, Opel, the Astra, Volvo Cars the S70 and V70, Volkswagen's Golf and Seat Leon. In fact, the Ford plant at Genk is the company's largest facility worldwide. In the truck and bus sector, Volvo Trucks produces some 30% of the company's global output, Van Hool exports around 80% of its coaches and buses, Jonckheere assembles up to 500 coaches a year and companies such as Mol make a range of special-purpose vehicles. Daf Trucks has a cabin and axle manufacturing division, while Honda in Flanders makes components for Honda UK and Rover. Backing-up this large industry are some 260 suppliers, with new companies arriving each year.

Big names in the automotive industry also have pan-European logistics operations in Flanders--DaimlerChrysler, Honda, Hyundai, Isuzu, Komatsu, Mazda, Subaru, Toyota and Volvo, for example--operating independently or through specialists such as New Wave and Caterpillar. In addition, three of the region's ports (Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Ghent) are together handling more than one and a half million autos a year as well as a constant stream of parts. With an entire range of support companies, R&D, the right infrastructure and conditions, and its unique position in Europe, Flanders continues to attract investments from the global automotive industry.