BMW to build factory in Debrecen

 

 

The BMW i3 electric car  Photo: MTI/János Marjai

The BMW i3 electric car
Photo: MTI/János Marjai

German car manufacturer BMW is to build an over 1 billion euro factory for the production of conventional and electric cars in the eastern Hungarian city of Debrecen, the minister of foreign affairs and trade, Péter Szijjártó, announced on Tuesday.

 

The factory to be built on a 400 hectare plot on the city’s outskirts will turn out conventional and electric cars using cutting-edge technology.

 

It will have capacity to manufacture 150,000 vehicles a year, Szijjártó said, adding that the factory will start off with 1,000 employees.

 

BMW will take ownership of the site in the second half of next year and will begin recruiting next year.

 

The investment would boost Hungary’s competitiveness and further strengthen Hungarian-German economic relations, the minister said.

 

New technologies are constantly changing criteria for success, he said, adding that companies are continually competing for the application of new technologies while countries are always on the eye out for investment. This new era has an especially big impact on open economies such as Hungary’s, he said.

BMW, one of the world’s largest and most cutting-edge carmakers decided to increase production capacity in Europe and had chosen Hungary in which to do it, after having considered several European cities over 14 months of weighing the decision, the minister said.