OREANDA-NEWS. 49 million euro automotive industry investment project to be launched in Győr.

”The American Dana Group will be launching a 15 billion forint (EUR 49M) investment project in Győr in early 2017”, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Péter Szijjártó announced.

“This investment reinforces the fact that the automotive industry continues to represent the backbone of the Hungarian economy”, the Minister said at his press conference in Budapest. “With this investment the American company will by creating 200 new jobs in Győr by 2020 and the Hungarian Government is supporting the project with funding of 2.9 billion forints (EUR 9.5M)”, Mr. Szijjártó added.

“Automotive industry production increased by 5.5 percent during the first six months of this year, manufacturing a production value of 4000 billion forints (EUR 13bn), 92 percent of which was exported”, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade highlighted.

“Hungarian economic policy has received much criticism in recent years, but by today the reorganisation of the tax system, the introduction of dual training and the flexible labour regulations have come to fruition. There are now more people working in Hungary than at any time during the past 26 years, and while only 1.8 million people paid taxes in 2010 Hungary now has 4.8 million tax-paying citizens”, he said, listing recent achievements.

“Hungarian economic policy has proven that it is possible to achieve economic growth and to create new jobs while maintaining balanced fiscal processes and a rational management of the state budget”, Mr. Szijjártó pointed out. “The introduction of dual training means that employers can now also take part in the training of the workforce and from next year employers who also facilitate the mobility of the workforce, meaning they transport people from various settlements to the businesses where they work, will be receiving a significant tax cut”, he highlighted.

With relation to the investment in Győr, the Minister stressed: “There have never been so many American investments in Hungary; the level of American investment currently stands at some 9 billion US Dollars and there are some 1650 American-owned enterprises operating in the country providing jobs to more than 100 thousand people”.

At the press conference, President of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies Robert Pyle told reporters: “The Dana Group is establishing a state-of-the-art factory in Europe to support its new business programmes. The SpicerR gear production plant will be established in Győr, Hungary, and will supply regional orders from the Dana Group’s global customers. The 13,000 square metre production unit will give regional customers access to Dana’s highly developed design, engineering and manufacturing expertise, which supports customers’ sourcing and technological developments”.

According to plans, construction will begin in the first quarter of 2017. The company will be investing approximately 46 million euros to construct the new production unit and is expected to create 200 new jobs by 2020, he explained. “The new facility in Győr will produce Spicer® AdvanTEK® hypoid or spiral bevel ring and pinion gear sets. Dana manufactures primary ring and pinion drive gearing for traditional banjo and beam axles, as well as all-wheel-drive systems. Full axle assembly on the site is possible in the future”, Mr. Pyle added.

“The new plant will serve as the company's fourth operation in Győr. The decision to develop another plant within the country was made possible by the support of the Hungarian Government which awarded Dana non-refundable cash grant based on the proposal of the Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency (HIPA)”, he highlighted.

"Dana is earning new business in the European marketplace, and to support this we are excited to add an additional gear-manufacturing facility to our footprint", he said.  "This plant is strategically positioned in close proximity to our other Győr operations and will enable us to deliver technologies to our European customers more quickly and cost effectively“, the President of Dana Light Vehicle Driveline Technologies added.