Since the fall of communism in 1989, the countries of Central and Eastern Europe have experienced a dramatic influx of foreign direct investment (FDI) as Western firms have sought to take advantage of these countries' low labor costs and proximity to large Western European markets. This paper presents a case study of FDI in the automotive industry in the Visegrad countries (the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) in the post-communist period, and it examines how firms in the industry have sought to take advantage of these labor-cost and locational advantages in integrating operations in these countries into their larger European production networks. The paper offers a brief historical overview of the development of these countries' auto industries and examines the various reasons for investing in the automotive sector in this region and, more specifically, in each of the individual countries. Particular attention is paid to the issue of interjurisdictional competition and the effects that it has had upon the manner in which investors have organized their production in the region. The paper also examines the effects that automotive FDI has had upon these four host countries and what the future may hold for the automotive industry in these countries as they stand prepared to join the European Union in 2004.