Thyssenkrupp is to build a EUR35m (US$38m) automotive and components plant in the Hungarian city of Debrecen, producing more than 6m coil springs and stabilisers per year and creating around 250 new jobs by 2020.
Construction of the plant on a roughly 20,000 square metre site in the eastern Hungary will start this spring.
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“In recent years Hungary has developed into an important European location for the international auto industry,” said Thyssenkrupp Components business area CEO, Karsten Kroos.
“In the last four years alone, car production in Hungary has more than doubled to over 500,000 light vehicles produced there in 2016.
“The expansion of our production capacities in Hungary is a continuation of the profitable growth strategy being pursued by our components business together with our customers.”
Early last year Thyssenkrupp began building a new facility for engine and chassis components near Budapest. Production of electric power-assisted steering systems and cylinder head covers with integrated camshafts is planned to start in 2018, with investment of around EUR100m in the new facility.
Thyssenkrupp also opened a front and rear axle assembly plant for Audi in Gyor in 2013.
The growing importance of Hungary as a location for Thyssenkrupp can be viewed by the fact it already operates a software development centre for steering technology in Budapest, where 500 software engineers work to develop solutions for electro-mechanical steering systems for the international automotive industry.
Based on this steering technology the centre is also working on steer-by-wire solutions and driver assist systems as a precursor to autonomous driving.
Thyssenkrupp says nine out of ten premium class cars are fitted with components made by the company, while one in three trucks features its drive components.
In the 2015/2016 fiscal year Thyssenkrupp’s sales in the automotive sector came to around EUR9.8bn.
