“Mercedes-Benz is building a new press plant in Kecskemét with an investment of some fifty billion forints (EUR 150 million); the expansion of the car plant will create 200 new workplaces”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced on Friday in Kecskemét.

At the event in the Mercedes plant in Kecskemét, Mr. Szijjártó told the press that the new press plant will extend over an area of 23 thousand square metres and will essentially result in the doubling of the plant’s current pressing capacity. “The investment will lead to a further reinforcement of the Hungarian economy. The goal is for Hungary to continue to boast the highest rate of growth in the European Union”, he emphasised. “Via the use of state-of-the-art technology in the new plant, the production of Mercedes vehicles will become more efficient and flexible not only at a local level, but also globally”, Mr. Szijjártó said. “Thanks to the work ethic, creativity, expertise and approach of the Hungarian people, and thanks also to the confidence of investors, the Hungarian automotive industry, which boasts a 120-year history, has become the flagship of European vehicle manufacturing”, he stated.

“There are currently 740 automotive industry-related enterprises operating in Hungary. In recent years, the Hungarian automotive industry has broken amazing records, and its production value has increase by 12 percent, reaching 9,540 billion forints (EUR 28.1 billion). This performance is thanks to the 176 thousand people working within the sector”, he highlighted. The Minister said that in his opinion the competitiveness of the sector is proven by the fact that the Hungarian automotive industry operates with an export ratio of 90.9 percent, and provides 21 percent of total Hungarian exports.

“Although Hungary is ranked 94th in the world with relation to its population, it boasts the 20th highest level of automotive industry exports”, he emphasised. According to Mr. Szijjártó, the investment projects realised to date indicate that Mercedes has confidence in Hungary and in the Hungarian people, but this is mutual, because if this were not the case then Mercedes would not have finished in first place repeatedly over the past four years with relation to sales in the premium category. “The latest investment is a huge acknowledgement for the some 4500 people already employed by the company in Kecskemét, and will also further reinforce Hungarian-German relations”, the Minister highlighted. “One quarter of the total foreign working capital invested in Hungary is derived from German enterprises. The some 6 thousand German enterprises currently operating in Hungary provide jobs for 300 thousand Hungarians”, he added.

Director of the Mercedes-Benz plant in Kecskemét Christian Wolff stressed that the company’s performance to date is thanks to the commitment of its employees; “a special mixture of Kecskemét spirit, German precision and Hungarian creativity”.

He highlighted that the second press plant, which will be fitted with laser-supported production lines, will be among the most modern production units in the world. According to the head of the Kecskemét facility, the new, flexible and innovative system will enable a 40 percent increase in production parallel to a continuously decreasing demand for electricity, leading to an the optimisation of the plant’s operations, thereby enabling a reduction in overtime.

Christian Wolff emphasised that Mercedes-Benz is committed to environmental and climate protection. In recent years the company has already significantly reduced the amount of electricity used to produce each vehicle, and according to its sustainable business plan, the operations of the Kecskemét plant will be free of carbon dioxide emissions by 2022, he explained. Mercedes-Benz announced on 18 June 2008 in Stuttgart that it is planning the construction of a new plant in Kecskemét. Production in the 800-million-euro plant began on 30 March 2012. The first model to leave the assembly line was the B-Class in 2012, followed by the four-door compact CLA in 2013 and the CLA Shooting Brake in 2015. Since May of 2018, the product palette has been supplemented by the new A-Class. Production of the second generation CLA Coupé began at the Kecskemét plant in February 2019, and a few months later in July the first mass-produced CLA Shooting Brake also rolled off the production line. In addition, last October saw the beginning of the  production of three types of Mercedes-AMG Performance vehicles. The company began the expansion of its existing plant in Kecskemét in June 2018. Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing Hungary Ltd. achieved a net turnover of 3.7 billion euros in 2019, an increase of 2.7 percent compared to 2018.

(MTI)