Bosnian Auto Parts Makers See up to 25% Cut in 2009 Output Due to World Crisis - Media

The auto parts makers’ association, comprising 12 domestic firms, expects this year's output to remain at last year's level of 230 million marka ($147 million/118 million euro), daily newspaper Nezavisne Novine reported.

“The planned production of domestic companies will, under the influence of the global crisis, be cut by 10% to 25%, depending on how much each firm is linked by contracts with foreign companies,” Nezavisne quoted the chairman of the Auto Cluster BiH association, Krunoslac Rasic, as saying.

Some Bosnian auto parts makers, which supply Serbian automaker Zastava, will be hit by the plans of Zastava’s new strategic partner, Italy’s Fiat, to stop production of the old Zastava models and start production of Fiat models, Nezavisne said.

In September, Serbia and Fiat signed deals worth a combined 1.18 billion euro ($1.49 billion) for joint production of Fiat models at the plants of Zastava.

(1 euro = 1.95583 Bosnian marka)