Hungarian automotive industry: week 28 2020
Fotó: Facebook/Waberers
The European Parliament has adopted the EU’s controversial mobility package, placing Hungarian hauliers at a disadvantage. The coronavirus pandemic is making it impossible for OEMs to comply with new emission rules, while it is also necessitating additional cost-cutting measures. Let’s recap what last week brought in Hungary’s automotive sector. Clicking on the highlighted items will open the full stories.
The Győr-based Audi Hungaria Experimental Motor Manufacturing Centre has supported the Volkswagen AG’s engine projects for 10 years. Operating as an external department of Széchenyi István University, the facility has gone through significant development since it was first established, demonstrated by the fact that its headcount has grown from 20 to 200.
The coronavirus pandemic is presenting further challenges for the auto industry. As a result of declining sales, hundreds of thousands of cars that don’t comply with the latest emission rules could flood European roads if the EU choose not to delay the introduction of the latest restrictions.
Daimler are preparing for the announcement of further cost-cutting measures as the car maker is calculating losses for Q2 2020.
Audi reported on a 25 percent sales drop in the April-June period.
Similarly, BMW AG reported on a 50 percent fall in their European sales in the second quarter compared to the same period in the previous year.
The European Union's highest court ruled last week that buyers of Volkswagen cars fitted with software to cheat diesel emissions tests can sue the car maker in the country where they bought the car.
VW AG continue down the route of electromobility. After the conversion of the Zwickau plant to the production of full-electric models, the car maker’s Emden unit is now making preparations ahead of the mass production of the ID.4 in 2022.
Following up on the success of its support scheme incentivizing the purchase of electric vehicles, the Ministry of Innovation and Technology (ITM) is considering to further expand the programme’s budget. On July 1st, a new law on electromobility entered into force, regulating charging rates.
The European Parliament has adopted a major reform of the EU road transport sector, the so-called mobility package, which threatens to drive out Central European hauliers from the Western European markets, introducing new, stricter rules and more administrative burdens on transport companies.
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development has announced further measures to mitigate the economic consequences of the novel coronavirus pandemic. The EBRD is expanding its trade financing cap to offset the pandemic’s negative effects on trading.
At the recent opening ceremony of the intelligent section of the M86 road, we interviewed Péter Frank, R&D director of Knorr Bremse Fékrendszerek Kft., on the company’s Hungary-based development projects related to autonomous driving.
