Hungarian automotive industry: week 39
Last week, Győr-based Rába won an award, Audi announced to bring the latest TT manufactured in Győr to the Paris Motor Show and Bosch announced plans of a major development project.
Manufacturers
Although as opposed to the Mercedes CLA and the Audi TT, the Opel Cascada is not fully made in Hungary, the engine is manufactured in Szentgotthárd, Hungary. Last week, we tested the Cascada, powered by a Hungarian-made engine unit.
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| New Audi TTS Roadster |
The new Renault Twingo also has Hungarian roots: the latest rendition of the French manufacturer's small car was designed by Hungarian designer Csaba Wittinger.
Last week, one of the most important car-related announcements was Audi's: the German premium car maker is bringing TTs manufactured in Győr, Hungary, to the Paris Motor Show. The latest Hungarian-made models, the Audi TT Roadster and the Audi TTS Roadster will be unveiled to the public and the press in the French capital.
Last week, MagyarBrands handed out its awards to acknowledge exemplary enterprises in Hungary. In the business branch, once again it was Rába that won the award.
Suppliers
Hatvan-based Robert Bosch Elektronika Kft. has received a HUF 871 million non-refundable grant from EU funds for an over HUF 2.9 billion investment. The company will buy new production machinery and hire 50 new employees, the Robert Bosch announced on September 22.
Last week, Krisztina Torma was appointed to the position of economic director at Hungarian Bosch group.
Continental Automotive Hungary Kft. has expanded its Veszprém-based site with an over HUF 1.2 billion (EUR 4 million) investment, supported with a HUF 321 million (EUR 1.1 million) grant from New Széchenyi Plan funds.
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| TechTogether: Solar-powered vehicle from BME |
The company has purchased equipment necessary for the production of wheel and engine sensors. The project also involved a staff expansion: Continental Automotive Hungary hired 50 operators, which means now nearly 1,700 people work at the plant in Veszprém.
Education
18 teams will compete at this year's TechTogether event, to be held between November 5 and 7. Last week, we presented four of them: Me-Kart, a go-kart team from Miskolc, Pneukombájn, an engineering team from Kecskemét, Paradicsom Team, the creators of a solar-powered vehicle from Budapest and RobonAUT, the makers of a robot vehicle from the capital.
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| TechTogether: a combine harvester by students from Kecskemét |
EU funds
Nine calls will be published at the beginning of October with a total allocation of HUF 120 billion (EUR 387 million) from EU development funds made available for the multi-annual planning period between 2014-2020, Nándor Csepreghy, Deputy State Secretary for Development Policy Communication at the Prime Minister’s Office, announced last week.
HUF 5 billion will be available for tool procurement and capacity expansion for SMEs and further HUF 5 billion will be made available for the support of foreign trade for local SMEs.
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| TechTogether: ME-Karts team from the University of Miskolc |
A report was published last week saying that 45 percent of companies planning to use EU funds find it difficult to produce their own share of resources required to enter the competition.
The Hungarian Government announced that it is planning to increase the number of exporting SMEs from the current 2,500 to 10,000.
Employment
According to the latest report by the Hungarian Central Statistical Office (KSH), in June-August 2014, the number of people in employment was 4.158 million, up by 177,000 (4.5 percent) year-on-year.
Forint
Following weeks of weakening, last week, the forint eased back to the level of 312 against the euro.
