Serbia Starts Exporting ‘Fićeks’ to the USA

Serbia, after the once-popular ‘Yugo’, is once again starting to export cars to the United States (USA), with the first contingent consisting of 3,100 cars of the new model “fiat 500 L”, which has been produced in Kragujevac since last year.

The start of exports was officially confirmed by the State Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, Aleksandar Ljubić, who stated in a program on Radio-Television of Serbia on Friday that, after the first contingent, ‘Fiat’ plans to export 3,000 cars monthly to the USA, including the new model 00 XL, which will begin production at the end of May.

The model produced for the Serbian market in a national version with a special equipment package has been named Šumadinac, but the version for the USA has been specially prepared according to the demands and standards of one of the most selective markets in the automotive industry.

In recent days, the cars have been transported by train to the port of Bar, and under strict supervision and control, the loading onto the ship of the company Grimaldi Lines, which will transport the cargo, is underway.

Due to increased demand for the 500 L car, a third shift has recently been introduced at the Serbian-Italian factory “Fiat Automobili Srbija” in Kragujevac, and over the last two months, more than 500 workers have been employed in the plants.

Serbia expects $1.6 billion in revenue from car exports from Fiat’s factory in Kragujevac in 2013, which plans to produce around 160,000 vehicles by the end of this year.

During 2012, approximately 30,000 “fiat 500 L” cars were produced and exported from Kragujevac, and production of the extended version of the 500 L model is expected to begin in the middle of this year.

Fiat Automobili Srbije (FAS) is a joint venture between Serbia and the Italian Fiat, in which the state holds a 33 percent stake and Fiat 67 percent. The factory, valued at around one billion euros, was opened on April 16, 2012, and is characterized as the largest investment in Serbia in several past decades, which will significantly contribute to the recovery of the domestic economy. Serial production of the fiat 500 L model began in August 2012, and the first car produced in Kragujevac was purchased, with a five-year loan, by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Mlađan Dinkić, on September 21, 2012. This week it was announced that Serbia’s gross domestic product grew by 1.9 percent in the first quarter, with the automotive industry significantly contributing to this growth, according to official assessments.