Hungarian automotive industry: week 18 2020
Fotó: Twitter/BoschPress
Audi and Mercedes resume vehicle production at Hungarian manufacturing units. European OEMs ramp up manufacturing activities amid unfavourable prospects for 2020 sales. Let's recap what the 18th week this year brought in the region's automotive industry. Clicking on the highlighted items will open up the full stories.
The restart of production activities in China is filling Bosh with confidence, and the company is planning a gradual production ramp-up in the remainder of 2020.
Even though Bosch Rexroth, the company’s subsidiary engaged in drivetrain and control systems, was also affected by the economic downturn last year, it reported on a profitable fiscal 2019 and altogether a successful year.
The 18th week this year saw the restart of manufacturing activities at all departments of Audi Hungaria’s Győr-based plant. In Kecskemét, Mercedes-Benz resumed production in one shift following a prolonged stoppage, induced by the Covid-19 situation.
Isbrand Ho, the CEO of BYD, and Péter Szijjártó, minister of foreign affairs and trade, held talks last week on the potential expansion of the company’s Komárom-based production unit. Boasting a headcount of 250 employees in Kecskemét, the plant has tripled its revenues in recent years.
More and more OEMs are resuming production activities across Europe. These include Volkswagen’s Wolfsburg unit and all Škoda plants in the Czech Republic, where production was first halted on March 18th. Ford has announced to restart production at its European manufacturing units on May 4th.
Denso Gyártó Magyarország Kft. is expecting a 20-30 percent fall in revenues at its Székesfehérvár plant, the Hungarian plant’s CFO said last week, adding that the next two or three months will be a critical period for the company.
In April 2020 the eurozone recorded the largest decline to date in its economic sentiment.
The economic effects of the Covid-19 situation has prompted the Hungarian Vehicle Importers’ Association (MGE) to make adjustments to its projection for 2020, which now forecasts a 25 percent decline in new car sales for the current year. In comparison to an initial projection of 155,000 units, MGE now only expects 118,000 new cars to be registered in 2020.
Demand on new vehicles has essentially collapsed due to the pandemic. In March, Germany saw a 37.7 percent drop in new car sales compared to the same period in the year before.
In spite of the decline in overall sales, demand on plug-in hybrid and fully electric vehicles is soaring to new heights.
The first phase of Techtogether Online is now over. Participants had until Monday midnight to submit their answers to the sponsor quiz exercise.
