The Győr plant was recognized for its modern work environment, flexible employment, and benefits packages.Continue reading
The 30-year cooperation between Audi and Hungary is a real success story, which is also of great significance for the national economic performance, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó said in Budapest on Wednesday.
The minister began his speech at the Audi Hungaria Zrt. brand evening by outlining the extraordinary challenges ahead, stressing that the most dangerous era of the past decades has dawned on Europe, significantly increasing the importance of reliable partnerships, such as Hungary’s relationship with Audi.
Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó. Photo: MTI/Krizsán Csaba
He recalled that as a resident of Győr, he had witnessed the excitement generated by the construction of a factory by the German carmaker, which later found a second home in the city. He pointed out that there is a big debate in Hungary today about the dangers of electric car investments, which is also familiar from that period. “If someone coughed twice, the general medical opinion was that it was because of the dust pollution that had been kicked up at the Audi construction site,” he recalled.
I think it should be clear to everyone from a perspective of three decades that there is nothing to fear from a new investment, especially if the investors are faced with strict rules and they are all respected,”
he emphasized.
An Audi R8 model at the brand event. Photo: MTI/Krizsán Csaba
The Foreign Minister listed some important milestones: when the company added vehicle production to its engine production in 1998, when one of the largest tool factories in Central Europe was established in 2005, when press and body shops were added to the vehicle production activities ten years ago, and when series production of electric motors started five years ago.
He said that the latter was, if not the starting point, an extremely important moment of impetus for the government’s strategic goal of making Hungary, which has become one of the European strongholds of the traditional automotive industry, one of the continent’s leading countries in the new era.
Now here we are in 2023, when Audi can say that it is one of the largest companies in Hungary, the company with the highest turnover and one of the biggest exporters,”
he underscored. In this context, he pointed out that the company has already invested 12 billion euros in Hungary, making it the clear holder of the title of “largest investor in the Hungarian automotive industry.”
The Minister noted that Audi’s continuous development was also essential to enable the Hungarian automotive industry to exceed the HUF 10,000 billion (EUR 27 billion) production value, which had long been a dream figure.
Hungary envisions its future with Audi, and (…) it seems that Audi also envisions its future with Hungary,”
Szijjártó emphasized. He added that the future is being built in Győr, and the future in Hungary is also being built by Audi. Eventually, he thanked the company for its cooperation over the past thirty years, saying that the government, for its part, is ready to make it thirty years more.
Featured photo via Facebook/Audi Hungaria Győr