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Another step has been taken towards Hungary becoming an electric battery world power, as a Western company, the Volkswagen Group, has announced that Hungary is among the possible destinations for their battery factory. If this becomes a reality, the company would be following in the footsteps of a number of Eastern companies.
“No decision has been made yet by Volkswagen, but it is true that Hungary is also among the possible destinations as a future location for an investment of this scale,” Zoltán Les, member of the board of Audi Hungaria responsible for vehicle production, told Index. Audi Hungaria is linked to the case as the central engine supplier to the Volkswagen group.
According to recent information, the Volkswagen group would build the battery factories itself, because this way it would not have to buy the cells. The company plans to build six giant factories on a timetable set to meet the surge in demand.
Photo: Facebook/Volkswagen
As nothing has been decided yet and Hungary is only one of the possible destinations, Les did not say in the interview which cities could be considered in Hungary. Audi Hungaria’s site is located near Győr in western Hungary, which immediately led the city opposition to suggest that Győr could be one of the possible destinations. Opposition politicians have already suggested holding a referendum on the issue, protesting against the idea. This would be a similar move to the one in Debrecen in eastern Hungary, where the Chinese company CATL is building a battery factory, which was the subject of a wide protest led by opposition politicians.
At a press conference in March, Alfons Dintner, chairman of the board of Audi Hungaria, when asked whether a battery factory would be built in Győrszentiván, near Győr, said that Audi did not want to build a battery cell plant. He added that the batteries for Audi would be supplied by the Volkswagen Group, which had indeed raised the possibility of setting up a site in one of four countries, including Hungary.
“I agree with the idea of designating a suitable industrial site,” he stressed, adding that no decision had been made. They only know that the next such plant would be built in Canada.
Featured photo via Pixabay
