BMW Group Mobility Development has secured a construction permit in Sokolovska in the Karlove Vary region at a site where it plans to build an automobile testing center. The Czech government has promised investment incentives worth CZK 528 million for the center, which would include more than 100 km of roads and be used to develop and test BMW’s new range of smart cars. The support includes CZK 201.8m in corporate income tax relief and a subsidy for the acquisition of property worth CZK 255m. Work is expected to get underway in the first quarter of 2020, with completion expected in 2022. The region is underperforming economically and in need of new job-creating investments. The center is being built on land once owned by the Sokolov mine and regional officials are hoping to attract further investors to another two industrial parks that have been prepared
