Hungary´s largest bus manufacturing site to be built in Mosonmagyaróvár
Hungary-based bus and agricultural vehicle manufacturer Kühne Zrt. is building a new manufacturing plant in Mosonmagyaróvár with a HUF 0.5 billion investment, financed mostly from the company´s own funds.
CEO Csaba Süle told MTI that the existing 10,000 m2 production hall will be expanded by a 5,600 m2 production area. With the reinforced concrete frame already done and the roof structure currently under construction, the company is planning to hand over the new building in H1 2016.
The new production hall will house the manufacturing phases of bus platform systems. The CEO added that once the expansion is done, the Mosonmagyaróvár Kühne plant will be the largest bus manufacturing site in Hungary.
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Süle said with the investment Kravtex-Kühne, the manufacturer of Credo buses since 1999, the company is preparing for the liberalization of the local transportation market planned for the 2017 business year.
The company is expecting that vehicle age will become an increasingly definitive factor, pushing forward the necessity to update local vehicle fleets. Kühne-Kravtex has plans to sell 100–120 vehicles every year.
The Mosonmagyaróvár plant has nearly 300 employees, a number that has not increased significantly over the last few years.
According to the CEO, the new production hall will only require additional staff if there is also an increase in production volumes due to growing market demand.
Kühne is Hungary's oldest machine builder that has kept its original profile, to be celebrating its 160th anniversary next year. Süle added that to celebrate the upcoming anniversary, the company will also expand its own museum.
Kühne Zrt.'s previous large-scale investment was a modernisation project in 2011 with the aim to update several product families and develop the Econell, Inovell and Optinell models. In addition, the company purchased new laser cutting and welding equipment and forklifts. The HUF 450 million investment was supported with a HUF 130 million subsidy.
Last year, Kühne Zrt. registered a profit of HUF 370 million and a net revenue of HUF 2.5 billion. Süle said the company is expecting a minor increase in revenues for 2015.
