BMW raised its planned investment in an electric vehicle (EV) factory under construction in Hungary to more than €2nn (roughly R35,600,032,000) on Friday and said it will build a €500m (roughly R8,863,714,790) high-voltage battery assembly plant on site.
The carmaker had previously said it would spend more than €1bn (roughly R17,740,250,000) on the Debrecen factory, due to open in 2025 and ramp up to producing 150,000 cars a year.
Hungary's government will provide 13.5bn forints (roughly R580,859,648) of non-refundable subsidy for the additional investment, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference.
"The close link between battery assembly and vehicle production is part of our strategy," said Markus Fallboehmer, senior vice president of battery production at BMW.
BMW assembles batteries at three sites in Germany, as well as its US Spartanburg site and its Shenyang plant in China, and will source battery cells in Europe from Chinese battery producers CATL and EVE.
Five hundred additional jobs will be created to staff the battery assembly plant.
Orban’s government is pinning hopes on electric vehicle and battery investments to steer Hungary, highly exposed to the internal combustion car sector, through to the next phase of the industry, which accounts for about 5% to 6% of its GDP and employs more than 150,000 people.
German automakers have long been a key contributor to Hungary's economy, with Mercedes-Benz and Audi also present in the country alongside many major suppliers including Continental, Schaeffler and ZF.
Hungary will also be the site of Europe's largest battery plant, under construction by CATL.
Economic output in the country contracted for the first time on a quarterly basis in the third quarter since mid-2020 but the government projects 1% GDP growth for next year.
BMW raises investment in Hungary EV factory to more than €2bn
Image: Supplied
BMW raised its planned investment in an electric vehicle (EV) factory under construction in Hungary to more than €2nn (roughly R35,600,032,000) on Friday and said it will build a €500m (roughly R8,863,714,790) high-voltage battery assembly plant on site.
The carmaker had previously said it would spend more than €1bn (roughly R17,740,250,000) on the Debrecen factory, due to open in 2025 and ramp up to producing 150,000 cars a year.
Hungary's government will provide 13.5bn forints (roughly R580,859,648) of non-refundable subsidy for the additional investment, foreign minister Peter Szijjarto said at a press conference.
"The close link between battery assembly and vehicle production is part of our strategy," said Markus Fallboehmer, senior vice president of battery production at BMW.
BMW assembles batteries at three sites in Germany, as well as its US Spartanburg site and its Shenyang plant in China, and will source battery cells in Europe from Chinese battery producers CATL and EVE.
Five hundred additional jobs will be created to staff the battery assembly plant.
Orban’s government is pinning hopes on electric vehicle and battery investments to steer Hungary, highly exposed to the internal combustion car sector, through to the next phase of the industry, which accounts for about 5% to 6% of its GDP and employs more than 150,000 people.
German automakers have long been a key contributor to Hungary's economy, with Mercedes-Benz and Audi also present in the country alongside many major suppliers including Continental, Schaeffler and ZF.
Hungary will also be the site of Europe's largest battery plant, under construction by CATL.
Economic output in the country contracted for the first time on a quarterly basis in the third quarter since mid-2020 but the government projects 1% GDP growth for next year.
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