HANOVER, Germany Continental, the German maker of tyres and car parts, on Friday inaugurated its new factory in Timisoara in the west of Romania in which it planned to invest up to 100 million euros (85 million dollars) by 2002.
The German group said in a statement that it had already invested about 60 million euros of the total 100 million euros in the new factory which is expected to produce some eight million car tyres each year, according to an AFP dispatch.
"With this factory, we're approaching our goal of producing around half of our tyres in Europe at low-cost locations," said Continental Chairman Stephan Kessel.
Furthermore, the new site would enable the group to better serve the Eastern European markets.
Romanian Prime Minister Mugur Isarescu attended the inauguration ceremony.