ABSTRACT
In 1938 the Soviet Union produced 211,000 motor vehicles, the great majority being trucks. Output reached 2,151,000 units in 1978, of which 1,312,000 were cars. Total output for the rest of Eastern Europe before the second world war was less than 17,000, mostly from Czechoslovakia. By 1978 every country except Bulgaria was manufacturing cars and/or commercial vehicles, with the combined output being 1,253,588 units. It is no exaggeration to say that without the technical assistance obtained from the Western MNEs, a great deal of this expansion would not have taken place. Almost all the automotive MNEs have been engaged in attempts to negotiate agreements with Eastern Europe and China, even though most were never successfully concluded.
