Belgium—about the size of Maryland (30,510 sq. km)—became an independent state in 1830. Today Belgium has three official languages: Flemish, 55%, which in reality is Dutch, spoken in the north and west; French, 33%, spoken in the south and east. German is spoken by 1% of the population. Belgium is headquarters for the European Union and NATO.
Belgium's per capita income is $24,951 in the context of population of 10.3 million and a GDP of $257 billion. The exchange rate is about 33.3 Belgian Franc to the dollar. Inflation is at about 2.1%. The average tariff rate is 3.6%. The country's top income tax rate is 55% (the average taxpayer is in the 45% bracket) and the top corporate tax rate 40%. There also are a 40% capital gains tax and a 21% value-added tax. The government consumes 14.8% of GDP.
Belgium has a fleet of 4.4 million units. The demand for passenger cars reached 410,000 vehicles in 1998 and is forecast to drop to 405,000 in 2000. The new car market is dominated by two companies: Volkswagen and General Motors (Opel). Ford, PSA and, Renault also have a strong presence. Vehicles from Japan account for 17% of new car sales.
Ford's production of the Mondeo is around 280,000 at the Genk plant, which has a daily capacity of 1970 units. Production of the Mondeo at Genk goes back to January 1993. The vehicle is distributed in Europe, Malaysia, Taiwan, and Hong Kong.
Production by manufacturer (thousands of units)
| Manufacturer |
1998 |
2000 |
| Ford |
280 |
350 |
| Volkswagen |
82 |
81 |
| PSA |
53 |
57 |
| GM |
49 |
44 |
| Renault |
44 |
43 |
| Ford |
39 |
38 |
| Toyota |
21 |
24 |
| BMW |
20 |
19 |
| Fiat |
19 |
18 |
| Mercedes-Benz |
14 |
16 |
| Nissan |
14 |
15 |
| Volvo |
10 |
10 |
| Honda |
7 |
7 |
| Others |
28 |
34 |
| Total |
400 |
406 |
|
Country profiles were provided by Raymond Champagne
