Hungarian automotive industry: week 13
Last week saw a strong forint, improving unemployment rates and a number of important automotive announcements from suppliers and OEMs as well.
Manufacturers
Audi Hungaria launched the mass production of the third-gen TT Roadster in November 2014. The first batch of 1,000 units necessary for the convertible's European market launch have now been delivered.
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| First batch of Audi TT Roadsters delivered |
Suppliers
950 people have been hired as part of the third phase of Hankook's new investment project in Rácalmás, Hungary. At the South-Korean tyre manufacturer's largest European plant, 53,000 tyres are produced every day.
The HUF 12 billion investment of automotive supplier FAG is awaited with a strong industrial background. The industry and labour market are world class in Debrecen, said the Mayor of Debrecen at a press event of FAG Hungary on the company's job-creating, capacity-expanding and logistics investment, announced recently.
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| Hankook hires 950 people in Rácalmás |
Prec-Cast expands in Sátoraljaújhely. Prec-Cast, manufacturer of high-precision aluminium and zinc casts, tools and moulds, have handed over another stage of a large-scale investment in Sátoraljaújhely, Hungary. The new, 12,000-square-metre production hall cost HUF 2 billion (EUR 6.8 million), supported with a HUF 1 billion (EUR 3.2 million) aid.
Ajka-based Poppe+Potthoff (P+P) Hungária Kft. has created 10 jobs as a result of a HUF 3 billion (EUR 10 million) investment, supported with a subsidy from European Union funds.
Education
Apollo, building a tyre manufacturing plant with a greenfield investment project near Gyöngyöshalász, has signed a scholarship agreement with 90 technician undergraduates. The global tyre manufacturer said the agreement signed with graduating students from secondary schools in Gyöngyös, Hatvan, Jászberény, Aszód, Gödöllő and Salgótarján will most likely be followed by a labour contract at the end of the academic year.
Győrújbarát-based Austropannon Kft., the Hungarian subsidiary of the Eberspacher group, and the Department of Automotive and Railway Engineering of Széchenyi István University of Győr has entered an educational cooperation.
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| Mercedes-Benz Kecskemét to expand production capacity |
Audi Hungaria is now supporting German language teaching in Hungary and took part in the conference of the German Centre for Foreign Education (Zentralstelle für das Auslandsschulwesen - ZfA) last week.
Imre Túróczi, Rector of the College of Szolnok, Zoltán Dunai, regional director of the Stadler Rail group, have signed a declaration of intent to launch an additional engineering course at the higher educational institute and look at the possibilities of the promotion of dual education. The new course is set to reduce the shortage of engineers in the county capital.
Last week, schoolgirls had the opportunity to visit the LuK plant in Szombathely. The Szombathely-based company held a career day for schoolgirls.
TechTogether
On March 27, TechTogether Junior, a scientific student competition for secondary school students, was held at the Győr University Arena, where secondary school students with an interest in sciences had the opportunity to compete in theoretical and practical tasks in front of a professional jury of automotive experts.
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| Last week saw the 1st TechTogether Junior event |
Zsolt Borkai, the Mayor of Győr, said in his opening speech that the event offers a unique fusion between education and industry, as automotive companies also had a chance to present themselves to the youngest generation of prospective engineers.
Győr-based engine developers receive new test bench. SZEngine Team, developers of a racing engine for the Formula Student series, have bought a new test bench for the development of their third-generation engine.
Economy
Last week, the euro fluctuated between 299.88 and 303 against the euro. The Hungarian currency traded below 300 against the euro for the first time in 14 months.
Between December last year and February this year, 4,124,000 people were employed on average in Hungary, up by 111,000 from the previous year, reported the Central Statistical Office.
The number of employed people exceeded the 4 million barrier exactly one year ago, and peaked at 4,155,000 in the period between September and November 2014. According the Central Statistical Office, the unemployment rate in Hungary was 7.7 percent in the December-February period.
