Thyssenkrupp's Hungarian Plant Delayed Significantly

The German Thyssenkrupp is postponing the construction of its production plant in Pécs, southern Hungary by one and a half to two years, Forbes magazine has learned.

According to the original plans, production would have started in mid-2020 in the plant where engine parts will be produced for hybrid and fully electric vehicles. This later changed to 2021, but now, the company informed the magazine that uncertainties in the automotive market necessitated a reassessment of the investment and decided to postpone it for a year and a half or two.

“We are trying to implement the Pécs project as soon as possible. This is based on the right amount of customer demand,” the Managing Director of Thyssenkrupp's Hungarian automotive supplier business, Marc De Bastos Eckstein said.

Thyssenkrupp, which is present in 80 countries, made an investment of HUF 17.4 billion in Pécs, about one third of which, HUF 5.57 billion is paid for by Hungarian taxpayers. It is promised that 200 new jobs will be created.

The news site Napi.hu notes that earlier, BMW's CFO announced that the construction of their Debrecen plant would be delayed by a year for reasons of saving money. Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó later tried to reassure everyone on the spot that it was just a "minor delay." However, the amendments to the contracts have since revealed that the handover will take place later, not only because of the pandemic, but also because of the delayed construction work.