Mercedes to double production area in Western Hungary

Mercedes-Benz’s Hungarian plant will become one of the most significant units of the concern following an upgrade doubling production area in Kecskemét, in central Hungary, Péter Szijjártó, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said on Thursday.

The investment will create large numbers of jobs at the plant, where production of electric models will start next year, the foreign ministry cited the minister as saying.

Szijjártó visited Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary’s new production hall under construction in Kecskemét and presented managing director Christian Wolff with the Officer’s Cross of the Hungarian Order of Merit in recognition of his work promoting the growth of Hungary’s vehicle industry.

He said the electric car industry would clearly be the future backbone of the European economy, and Mercedes, one of its flagships, had placed Hungary in the focus of its electromobility strategy. The countries that can attract the most electric car industry investments will grow the fastest and most dynamically, he added.

Szijjártó said that Mercedes’ expanding Hungarian production capacity contributed to a large extent to “Hungary becoming one of the centres of Europe’s electric car industry, perhaps even the most significant one.”

“New production halls are being built, where the new bodywork and new assembly lines will be installed,” the minister said. “Thanks to these developments, manufacturing of the new electric models will start next year and large numbers of new jobs will be created,” he added.

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With the major investment announced last year, Mercedes, which employs close to 5,000 people in Hungary, will bring higher-end models with higher value added to the country, Szijjártó said.

Szijjártó noted that Hungary’s automotive industry, which employs 150,000 people, had output of more than HUF 12,000 billion (EUR 32.0bn) last year and 90 percent of the sector’s output is exported. So far this year, the sector’s output has grown by 40 percent, he added.

He added that German companies continue to form the largest group of foreign investors in Hungary.

Source: MTI