Opel kicks off production of new PSA engines in Szentgotthárd - week 2 2020 edition
Photo credit: MTI
Battery plants announce expansion plans in Hungary. Kecskemét Mercedes-Benz plant lays off employees. German car makers report on record sales. Let’s recap what last week brought in Hungary’s automotive sector.
Opel has finally started the serial production of the latest PSA-developed 3-cylinder turbocharged petrol engines in Szentgotthárd. The economic, environmentally-friendly powerplants, with a power output between 110 and 130bhp, will be available in PSA-manufactured Opel, Peugeot and Citroen models.
Taking effect on January 6th, Daimler has announced layoffs at the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemét. The company said there are no mass layoffs planned at the factory.
Two South Korean companies have announced expansion projects in Hungary:
South Korean Soulbase is looking to build a new plant at Tatabánya Industrial Park on a four-hectare area to manufacture electrolyte for lithium batteries.
SK Innovation Co. another South Korean battery producer, is planning to expand the production capacity of its second Hungarian battery plant, currently under construction, to supply Volkswagen production volumes in the United States.
Mezőberény-based Csaba-Berényi Gépgyártó Kft. has announced to launch an over HUF 298 million investment project. The investment covers the construction of a new surface treatment and paint shop, which will feature new painting technology and equipment.
Daimler set a sales record in 2019. Despite closing December with declining sales volumes, Daimler AG’s annual sales increased by 1.3 percent from the year before with 2.34 million units sold worldwide.
The BMW Group has also set a new record by selling 2.17 million BMW-branded cars in 2019. Although still behind Daimler, this has resulted in a substantial lead over Audi in the premium rankings.
The European Union is placing special emphasis on the topics of carbon neutrality and autonomous driving. New legislation is already in affect to shape the future of automated driving.
Although 2019 saw an increase in Hungarian new car registrations, experts expect stagnating levels in 2020. Despite that, the sales volume of fully electric vehicles could increase by as much as 40 percent.
The output growth of industrial production fell short of expectations in Hungary. In November 2019, the output of industrial production only increased by 3.6 percent year on year, with working-day adjusted indices showing a 5.7 percent growth.
Despite a negative turn in industrial production, the new year kicked off with highly positive investor sentiments in the eurozone, reaching a new high since November 2018.
Economic sentiments are also on the rise. Exceeding analyst expectations, the eurozone’s Economic Sentiment Indicator (ESI) increased by 0.3 points to 101.5 points in December.
