 Complete the following phrase:  Meanwhile, scope for integrating the little plant at Brombach Lörrach in the French occupation zone continued to be affected by bureaucratic hurdles, and in 1951 the Brombach facility was abandoned. By this time a new plant for braking components and subassemblies had quietly been constructed and opened at Gifhorn in . In May 1949 the British, French and American zones - had been merged to form a new U.S. sponsored West German state which came with the promise of enhanced economic integration between the hitherto separately administered sectors. The Soviet zone was excluded for political reasons, with the result that Germany would remain 