Hungarian automotive industry: week 12
British, German and South Korean investments target Hungary while wage talks continue to be in the centre of attention. Let´s recap what week 12 brought in Hungary´s automotive sector.
Manufacturers
The week started off and ended with news on the increasing tension at various Hungarian manufacturing locations.
On Tuesday, a strike committee was formed at Audi Hungaria, as the employer and the trade union have so far been unable to reach an agreement on this year's wages.
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| Audi Hungaria amidst heated wage talks |
The union's demands have not been met, and the collection of signatures for a strike call has already started at the German car maker's Győr location.
Similar reasons led to the current situation at Sopronkövesd-based Autoliv: the trade union wishes to see fulfilled the management's promise from before when the company's headcount reached 1,500 people – a 13th month pay for manual workers and 13th month pay and vacation pay for the clerical staff and those in indirect manual labour.
On the other hand, all seems to be well in Kecskemét. The Kecskemét-based Mercedes-Benz car manufacturing plant has announced to carry out a €250 million investment, building a new body shop using the latest technologies.
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| Mercedes-Benz Kecskemét is invested in the future |
Christian Wolff, chairman of the company's board of directors, said last week that the company has long-term plans in Hungary.
Is this an indication that the new Daimler plant might end up in Hungary? There is certainly a chance, but the last time we checked Poland seemed to be a more likely candidate.
We asked Mercedes, Audi and Bosch about how they reward their employees' innovative ideas on the production floor. One of the firms pays €250 for an idea that brings improvements to the production process.
The new Opel Astra wagon, a popular family and company car, fitted with engines manufactured in Hungary, will hit showrooms later this spring. Last week, we tried the 160bhp bi-turbo model.
It seems the Budapest transport company's plan to purchase Hungarian-made buses has fallen through. We reached out to Rába, who are ready to start production, who say they do not have a word in which direction the midi-bus project might go.
By contrast, BKV believe in the Hungarian bus manufacturing. We interviewed László Szedlmajer, the company's deputy-CEO, about local added value and Budapest's transition into a smart city, touching upon subjects such as the heyday of Ikarus, Hungary's iconic bus manufacturer.
Suppliers
In addition to Daimler's pending decision, another announcement from the British government is keeping Hungarian suppliers excited: the Mega Mission campaign was announced last week with the aim to build beneficial two-way business connections between UK-based and foreign companies employing advanced technologies.
The campaign is expected to create a constant influx of new business from the British auto industry.
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| Paul Kahn, president of Airbus UK and the ambassador of the Emerging Europe Mega Mission 2016 |
Samsung also have their eyes on Eastern Europe. South Korea-based Samsung SDI is looking for a European location for the manufacturing of energy storage units, a key element of electric motoring solutions. Göd, Hungary, seems like a likely candidate.
Education
Companies have different way of securing a well trained labour force. With the collaboration of the Foundation for the Higher Education of Zalaegerszeg and Mobilis Interactive Exhibition Center, Autopro has organized an event in Zalaegerszeg, where companies with an eye on development could meet young students, their possible future employees.
It seems the young generation is attracted to the engineering career for its higher-than-average wages.
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| Autopro holds TechTogether event in Zalaegerszeg |
U.S.-based National Instruments has built an industrial testing and competence centre in Debrecen. We interviewed CEO László Ábrahám on the company's success and the challenges it's currently experiencing on the labour market.
On March 23, the Hungarian Bosch Group held the inauguration ceremony of its new thermotechnology training centre at the company's Budapest location.
Every year, 1,500 trainees will have the opportunity to learn about alternative, eco-friendly and energy-saving heating solutions from qualified and experienced professionals. The training centre was built in 12 months with a €100,000 investment.
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| National Instruments open testing and competence centre in Debrecen |
Dr. János Fodor, a prominent figure in Hungarian engineer training and the rector of Óbuda University, died last week at the age of 60.
