Brexit to potentially benefit Central European nations as suppliers relocate - week 50 2019 edition

UK elections brought tory victory, a new conservative government could finally make Brexit a reality and withdraw the country from the European Union by 31st January 2020. The British auto industry is expecting harsh consequences if new tariffs are introduced in UK-EU trading.

According to the Society of Motor Manufacturers & Traders (SMMT), vehicle production could drop by as much as one third in the UK.

On the other hand, Central European nations could benefit from Brexit. Several manufacturing suppliers have already relocated production capacities from Great Britain to the CE region.

Contractors involved in the construction of the new BMW plant in Debrecen have begun to set up their office containers at the construction area.

Dürr, a supplier of professional automotive painting technologies, has been contracted to outfit the new plant’s paint shop.

The city of Debrecen holds immense development potential. Now is the time to jump on the bandwagon, recommends an expert of an international HR firm.

Astria-based automotive technology developer AVL has secured exclusive sales rights for the ZalaZone test track in Zalaegerszeg. ZalaZone and AVL have created a joint venture for the deal. AVL has already had presence in the vicinity of ZalaZone with a small engineering team.

A visit to ZalaZone was the last station of the Asia-Europe Meeting, ASEM, a two-day ministerial meeting between transport ministers, comprising chiefly Asian policy makers. In the meantime, the track’s braking surface has almost reached completion.

“Anti-car sentiments are becoming a global trend, which is about to make itself felt in Hungary as well. It first started with diesels, but it’s turning into a one-sided, rather unfair attitude,” János Eppel, CEO of car distributor Porsche Hungária, said at the company’s end-of-year press conference.

Bosch is not in favour of the forced green turn drafted by the European Commission. The tech giant says such interference with value chains will have unfavourable effects on the industry.

Turning the entire industry around will have enormous costs. For instance, the Czech Republic estimates the costs of reaching carbon neutrality at 675 billion Czech korunas, the Czech premier said last week.

The final legal act of the new Hungarian technical education law has been passed. Educators in technical secondary education can also expect a 30 percent wage increase on average.

Hybrid technology will dominate production volumes at the Audi plant in Győr from 2020, while the Szentgotthárd-based Opel plant will increasingly shift production focus on downsize turbocharged petrol engines. Alfons Dinter, chairman of the board of management of Audi Hungaria Zrt., said decreasing diesel volumes are amply compensated by the ramp-up of electric motors.

Salgglas has developed new sidelite product using a new technology.

BILK’s Budapest warehouse is constantly above 99 percent occupancy rate.

AutoWallis is expanding operation in West Hungary.

Széchenyi István University of Győr and National Instruments (NI) Hungary Kft. have signed a strategic partnership agreement.

In 2019, Microsoft has opened a total of five Artificial Intelligence Knowledge Centres at Hungarian universities.