Hungarian automotive industry: week 38 2019 edition

Achim Heinfling steps down as the chairman of Audi Hungaria’s board of directors, leaving a strong and well prepared company to his successor. The Győr-based plant will launch the serial production of a new model in November.

The inauguration ceremony of ZalaZone Research and Technology Centre was held last Friday. It is hoped that the test track and technology centre will make Hungary a definitive player in the region’s automotive development activities in the long term.

Japan-based auto parts manufacturer Denso has completed a HUF 18.5 billion investment in Székesfehérvár. The company has inaugurated a logistics centre, where it will store raw materials and semi-finished and finished products.

Last week, Pécs-based Honsa Kft. inaugurated a HUF 2 billion storage facility, while rubber and plastic components manufacturer Hübner-H Gumi- és Műanyagipari Kft. held the topping-out ceremony of a HUF 3.4 billion investment project in Nyíregyháza.

A Germany-based agricultural manufacturer has settled in Debrecen’s industrial park. The investment of Amazonen-Werke Kft., a company engaged in the direct sale of agricultural machinery, amounts to HUF 400 million.

BPW-Hungária Kft. will showcase AGRO Hub, its latest production-ready solution, at trade fair Agritechnika. The product has 3-4 areas of application where the company could potentially achieve a significant market position.

SZTAKI (Institute for Computer Science and Control) is participating in an EU-funded project for the development of more modern and efficient aircraft wings, engaging in the processing of test data.

Stadler’s Szolnok-based bogey plant will triple its existing production capacity with an investment exceeding HUF 3 billion.

Thyssenkrupp’s Hungarian subsidiary continues to grow, and is looking for new employees to its Budapest competence centre and Industry 4.0-ready production plants, four of which are already in operation and one currently under construction in Pécs. The company finds three-quarters of their workforce via employee recommendations.

The partners of Magyarmet Finomöntöde Kft. expect the highest quality, and are more sensitive to production time than costs when it comes to development.

BMW is preparing for massive layoffs; according to the German Manager magazine, the automaker is expected to dismiss 4,000 employees in Germany by 2022.

The growth of producer prices continued to decline in August.

Car manufacturing in the European Union is characterised by recession, while Russia’s automotive industry also fell back in August. The recession of French automotive manufacturing is projected for as early as 2020.

The dark clouds have not yet reached the Czech and Romanian markets, which are still producing record-breaking output volumes.

There is demand for an additional 25,000 IT professionals, which is why the Programozd a Jövőd! (Programme Your Future!) programme has been announced at 18 universities for the current academic year.

Siemens and the Budapest University of Technology and Economics continue to expand their partnership, and have lengthened their framework agreement by another five years.

It’s not only Siemens who support education in Hungary: Knorr-Bremse is launching robotics classes at five elementary schools.

According to an announcement by the Minister of Innovation and Technology, the state funding of research and development projects will be expanded by 25 percent next year.

Hungarian IT professionals have achieved remarkable results in image processing at international competition HackYeah, held in Poland.