Hungarian automotive industry: week 17
Last week saw announcements on a total of €0.7 bln in automotive investments in Hungary, including a large-scale project at Daimler’s Kecskemét plant and investments by various other companies. Let’s recap what week 17 brought in Hungary’s automotive sector.
Manufacturers
Mercedes-Benz Kecskemét announced a HUF 185 bln (€58 mln) investment last week, which will expand the German car maker’s production capacity for new-generation compact cars.
By 2018, Daimler will build a new body shop and add innovative equipment to improve production efficiency.
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Last week, we made an interview with Csaba Mészáros, CEO of Hungarian engineering firm evopro, who in a short period has managed to become a key figure in local bus manufacturing.
Will the coming years mean a revival for the Ikarus brand? Mészáros says that while we should respect the legacy of Hungary's bus manufacturing history, we must take an innovative approach for the future.
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| Csaba Mészáros, CEO of evopro |
Renault Hungaria has appointed a new CEO. Effective on 31st March, Tamás Wachtler (37) took over as chief-executive at the French manufacturer’s Hungarian arm.
Now retired, former CEO Miklós Maróthy will stay the brand’s ambassador.
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| Tamás Wachtler, newly appointed CEO of Renault Hungaria |
Shortly after its début, the Hungarian-built electric aircraft has won an award.
The aircraft’s Kecskemét-based developers took part in the Aero 2016 trade event in Friedrichschafen, where they received an acknowledgement for developments in electric mobility by European firms.
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Suppliers
Based in Shanghai, China, Yanfeng is a leading supplier of automotive interior products, such as dashboards, door panels and decorative trim.
The company has 93 manufacturing locations in 17 countries, six of them seated in Europe. Last week, the company made an announcement to invest €25 million in its Hungarian location in Pápa, creating 450 jobs in the town in West Hungary.
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| Yanfeng Hungary CEO József Vallyon |
Aluminium foam manufacturer Aluinvent has handed over a new HUF 0.5 bln plant at Felsőzsolca Business Park.
The new production line of the industrial innovation-award winning producer of environmentally friendly products for the construction industry will manufacture 1,000 metric tons of the unique material annually.
Aluinvent Zrt. will launch a new aluminium foam product line and is cooperating with customers and manufacturers of finished products who see a future for this material.
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| Aluinvent vice-president and technology director Dr. Norbert Babcsán |
Last week, we visited ContiTech’s renewed Szeged plant. The supplier handed over an approximately €9 mln investment, which will create 50 new jobs at the location in South Hungary.
Launched back in mid-2015, the development project has increased the plant’s capacity by 30 percent.
Service providers
U.S.-based developer and manufacturer of industrial machinery Flowserve Corporation announced last week to build a new service centre in Debrecen with a greenfield project, creating 404 jobs with a €14 mln investment.
The rapid development of the automotive sector is also driving the growth of the service industry.
Gábor Mikulcza, sales director of packaging producer Nefab, told us about the new developments that are coming in the next few years.
He says that a well-designed packaging can reduce administrative and logistics costs.
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| Last week, NNG signed a strategic partnership agreement with the Hungarian government |
The Association of the Hungarian Vehicle Component Manufacturers (MAJOSZ) will hold its general meeting on 4th May.
For the first time in the association’s history, the meeting will be combined with a networking event. The Technology Day will be open for members as well as those interested in the activities of MAJOSZ.
More and more people in the industry believe that the car of the not-too-distant future will be a smartphone on four wheels – with internet connection and cloud services. Péter Szelei, business planning manager of Hungarian navigations developer NNG, agrees.
TechTogether
Developments and a new phase of investments requires more and more highly trained professionals. Finding recruitment poses a significant challenge to the companies.
Autopro founded the TechTogether Junior Győr event to allow companies in need of human resources an opportunity to meet talented young individuals.
In October 2015, Autopro held the TechTogether team competition with the participation and sponsorship of Tequa International Kft. The task drafted by the company was won by SZEngine from Széchenyi István University of Győr. Their prize was a training session offered by the company.
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The team from Budapest University of Technology and Economics formed to compete at the Shell Eco-marathon made a promise last year to line up at this year’s consumption race with a self-developed engine.
Albeit in a few weeks of delay compared to their original schedule, development is going according to plan to allow the team to participate in this year’s Shell Eco-marathon.
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| BME's new design for this year's Shell Eco-marathon |
Pneumobiles, compressed-air driven vehicles, will compete for the ninth time this year. The international field lines up vehicles featuring vastly different technologies and solutions. Last week, we had a sneak peak at BME’s current effort.
