Commercial manufacturing of small petrol engines has got underway in Opel’s factory in Szentgotthárd. This will be the main product of the new Flex engine factory, completing the product range of a plant that cost EUR 700 million to put in place and that started production in early 2013.
Parliamentary State Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó emphasised on Wednesday in Szentgotthárd at the ceremonial event marking the commencement of manufacturing: this investment project is yet another proof that the reindustrialisation of Hungary was a good decision. Opel’s project is a contribution to the strengthening of the Hungarian economy, as it creates opportunities for the development of other companies as well. Some 46 % of Opel’s suppliers are Hungarian businesses, he added.
Opel established Flex engine factory with a capacity sufficient to manufacture 650,000 units a year, for the manufacturing of 1.4, 1.6 and 1.8 litre petrol and diesel engines. The output is planned to increase to 560,000 units by 2016, more than half of which will be small petrol engines.
The state secretary noted: Hungary has become one of the centres of Europe’s automotive industry with 712 businesses operating in this sector in this country, employing 126,900 people, A total of 14,900 new jobs have been created in the sector. The automotive industry accounts for 28 % of the total output of the manufacturing industry, 93 % of the products of the sector are is exported, accounting for more than 20 % of Hungary’s exports of products.
Mr. Szijjártó explained that the total amount of the investments of the European subsidiary of General Motors has increased to EUR 1.5 billion, adding that with Opel’s latest project the number of jobs increases to 1,500 at the factory in Szentgotthárd.
General Motors Vice President Joachim Koschnicke said at the event that the engine factory is a key element of Opel’s strategy and from 2017 on most of the engines to be built into Opel’s vehicles will be manufactured here. He noted that their goal is to make Opel profitable again before the end of this decade and to increase its share in the European market to 8 %.
The Vice President emphasised that Opel feels at home in Hungary and it intends to be a key contributor to Hungary’s economic growth.
A total of 12,000 small petrol engines will be manufactured this year, to be followed by 14,000 units in the first full year of production. The engine factory’s total output this year is 107,000 engines.
Opel Magyarország’s Managing Director Gábor Koncz said to journalists that the small petrol engines will be built into the Corsa and Adam models, in the segment of which the Company expects significant growth. He explained that more than 5000 Opel cars were sold in the first half of this year in the overall Hungarian market of new cars and the brand’s sales increased by 68 % year-on-year. The company expects the Hungarian market to continue to expand this year and the number of passenger cars and light commercial vehicles may exceed 80,000 this year.