Daimler builds new press shop at Kecskemét plant with HUF 50 bln investment - week 11 2020
Fotó: Daimler Media
COVID-19 rears its ugly head at manufacturers, takes its toll on trade exhibitions. Magyar Suzuki Corporation introduces precautionary measures to fight the outbreak. Industry Days exhibition postponed to October. Let's recap what week 11 brought in the region's automotive industry. Clicking on the highlighted items will open the full stories
Daimler has announced to build a new press shop at its Kecskemét plant with a HUF 50 billion investment. The new facility will be built on a 23,000sqm area, and is expected to double to the plant’s existing pressing capacities.
Suzuki has introduced precautionary measures at its Esztergom-based plant in face of the novel coronavirus. The company has also cancelled business trips abroad and meetings that would have required the presence of foreign business associates.
Similarly to Suzuki’s Esztergom plant, Daimler has also introduced travel restrictions in face of the coronavirus outbreak, but so far there have been no reports of disruptions of parts supply.
Audi Hungaria has reported on uninterrupted supply of parts. In the meantime, wage talks between the workers and management continued last week. The two parties sat down three times last week, and the meetings presented a strong convergence of position in key questions such as employment guarantee, leading to the management’s wage offer to be eventually accepted by the Audi Hungaria Independent Trade Union.
Hungary-based Lemeztechnika Kft. has invested HUF 500 million in a new production unit located in Pécs. An avid investor and producing chiefly for the export markets, the sheet metal manufacturer has significantly boosted its capacities and improved its competitiveness thanks to the investment.
The foundation stone of a new industrial park near Berettyóújfalu was laid last week. The 3.3-hectare area is located to the north of the town. The investment is supported with HUF 600 million from European Union and government funds.
On March 11th, the Hungarian government issued an emergency ruling that prompted event organizer Hungexpo Zrt. to postpone trade fair Industry Days.
Several manufacturers have reported on confirmed cases of COVID-19 among their employees, which has prompted the introduction of more severe emergency measures. The car makers affected include the PSA Group and JLR.
The pandemic has resulted in the cancellation of several trade exhibitions, including logistics trade fair LogiMAT. Adopting to the new circumstances, Jungheinrich has invited visitors to a virtual trade fair it held between March 10th and 12th.
Brake systems manufacturer Knorr-Bremse is expecting weaker results in 2020. In more positive news, the company has been able to relaunch production at all of its Chinese plants.
The Schaeffler Group has revealed its financial results from fiscal 2019. The company’s automotive OEM and industry divisions reported on revenue increase, while its spare parts division posted a slight decline in revenues last year.
The UK government has approved a £30 million emergency stimulus package to shore up the British economy from the coronavirus outbreak. A similar decision was made in Italy, where the government has tripled the previous budget allocated to economic recovery to €25 billion.
Coronavirus has taken its toll on car sales. Morgan Stanley has further reduced its car sales projection for 2020, while LMC Automotive is predicting a decline of millions of units from 2019.
Hungary’s industrial production and vehicle manufacturing output both saw year-on-year growth in January, driven by an increase in export markets. In turn, domestic order volumes showed a marked decline.
