Hungarian automotive industry: week 6 2017 edition
February 10 saw the end of a prolonged negotiation on workers’ wages between the management and employees of Audi Hungaria. While this was certainly the most important news item from last week, the rest of Hungary’s auto industry also kept on rolling. Let’s recap what the sixth week of the year brought in Hungary’s automotive sector.
Manufacturers
Tension grew as weeks passed without an agreement between the Audi Hungaria management and the workers. The trade union went as far as holding a two-hour warning strike at the end of January.
However, last Friday brought relief as the two parties had finally reached an agreement, increasing the workers’ base monthly wage by nearly €100.
Audi spares no effort in reducing harmful gas emissions during its production. Since its transition to green energy, the German manufacturer's Győr plant has used over 100 GWh of geothermal energy, reducing its carbon-dioxide emissions by some 20,170 tons.
On February 9, Opel Szentgotthárd celebrating the 9 millionth engine rolling off its production line at the Hungarian manufacturing unit.
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The jubilee powerplant is a 1.5-litre diesel unit, an engine to be making its début in the new Opel Insignia.
Plant director Grzegorz Buchal reminded that we are celebrating the 25th anniversary of modern-day car manufacturing in Hungary, which is linked to the launch of the Szentgotthárd-based plant.
Suppliers
Knorr-Bremse and the Hungarian government signed a partnership agreement last week to promote SME development in the country. According to the agreement, a new workgroup will be established under the name National Supplier Programmes, and the parties strive to implement supplier programmes that promote SME development from several angles.
Last week, the Szombathely-based subsidiary of Delphi unveiled its latest development. The technology, previously used in military and aircraft applications, has become essential in modern-day vehicles. Delphi’s Hungarian manufacturing site produces near-field radars that play a key role in detecting objects in the vicinity of passenger cars.
“Following our rebrand in 2015, where we changed our name from Flextronics to Flex, 2016 was the first year under this new name. Of course, this is much more than just a name change, as we had grown from a company engaging in the production of electronics products and logistics to a global enterprise offering planning, design and implementation activities and as a result, a complex services package,” János Lang, vice-president of Flex Magyarország, said last week.
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| János Lang, vice-president of Flex Magyarország |
Last week, BPW Hungaria announced changes in its management: József Brumbauer, who has led the company since 2004, will be replaced by Péter Mándli, the current leader of BPW-H’s customer relations centre in 2017.
Marc De Basos Eckstein, the CEO of Thyssenkrupp Presta Hungary Kft., announced on February 6 that Germany-based Thyssenkrupp Springs & Stabilizers will build a new manufacturing unit in Debrecen with a HUF 11 billion (€35.5 million) investment, and create 250 new jobs as a result.
Service providers
The Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA), the Association of Hungarian Vehicle Component Manufacturers (MAJOSZ) and four local automotive suppliers took part in Japan’s largest automotive event, the 9th Automotive World conference and exhibition in Tokyo. According to István Németh, secretary general of MAJOSZ, Szeged and its region could be home to a new giant investment from Japan.
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The local government of Tata has announced to support its business park with a HUF 146 million (€0.48 million) aid to develop its road network, replace its power line and reroute the business park’s central drainage system.
Effective on February 1, the new president of Shell Hungary Zrt.’s board of directors is Andrea Bujdosó. Joining the company in 2009, she has held various local and international managerial positions in the company’s corporate customers branch.
Last week, the Hungarian Scientific Society of Mechanical Engineers (GTE) held its 2nd conference on the professional culture of mechanical engineering.
The interdependence and integration of software and hardware systems is the easiest to observe in industry, where everything is related from the design process to the follow-up on the product’s life cycle. These cyberphysical systems require real time communication between the furthermost of points. According to GTE, this brings new complexity from a computing point of view, for which we need to prepare the engineers of today and tomorrow.
Education
“The mechanical engineering course teaches subjects related to both fundamental sciences and differentiated professional competences. Our aim is to make sure that our BSc graduates can utilise their knowledge in local and domestic industry and enable them to obtain an MSc or PhD degree,” Dr. Gusztáv Fekete, associate professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Savaria Institute of Technology, told our site.
TechTogether
Several Hungarian universities are currently preparing for this year’s Formula Student season. Two of the teams have already presented their plans for their latests single seaters.
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| Arrabona Racing Team |
The lead constructor of Arrabona Racing Team from Győr said their first car weighed 206 kilograms, while their effort for this year will weigh only 158 kilograms.
BME FRT from the Budapest University of Technology and Economics is focusing on the development of high voltage batteries, a drive control system, weight reduction and a new cooling system.
