Hechinger inaugurates HUF 1.4 billion expansion

Addressing the inauguration of the new workshop and storage facility, Peter Szijjarto, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, said the investment would create 70 jobs.

Hechinger, a supplier of electronic components for the automotive, machine, construction and medical technology industries, has received a 276 million forint (EUR 661.8m) government grant in support of the expansion, the foreign ministry cited Szijjarto as saying.

Szijjarto said not even the existing uncertainty in the global economy could halt the ongoing revolution in the global auto industry. “The transition to electric vehicles is a one-way street which everyone has entered,” the minister said.

Electric vehicles sales doubled last year to six million units and will exceed 10 million this year, Szijjarto said. Citing recent projections, he said electric vehicles will make up around 60 percent of new car sales by 2030.

“Hungary reacted to this trend in time, becoming the European champion of the transition to electric vehicles, and we also have a good chance of turning that into a world championship title,” Szijjarto said.

Hungary is now the world’s third largest manufacturer of electric vehicle batteries, which have by now become the country’s top export item, the minister said.

Investments like the one that has been carried out by Hechinger boost the output of Hungary’s car industry, which has grown by around 23 percent so far this year, with its value reaching 8,700 billion forints by the end of September, he said.