German car parts manufacturer creates 720 jobs with EUR 140m investment

German company group Rehau Automotive has invested 50 billion forints (EUR 140m) in a new polymer car parts manufacturing plant in Újhartyán, in central Hungary, which is creating 720 new jobs, the minister of foreign affairs and trade said on Tuesday.

Péter Szijjártó told the opening event that there had been strong international competition for the investment because the Rehau group is present at some 190 locations in more than 60 countries around the world, the ministry said in a statement.

In addition to completing the plant in Újhartyán, the company is building a new manufacturing unit in Győr, in north-western Hungary, as part of the same project, he said.

The state has supported the investment with 7 billion forints which resulted in the company’s largest and most modern plant built in Újhartyán, he added.

The investment further increases vehicle production in Hungary which employs 160,000 people and reached production value of around 9,400 billion forints last year, Szijjártó said.

Hungary is currently among the twenty largest car industry exporters and exports of car bumpers tripled in recent years, he added.

The coronavirus pandemic resulted in economic and health crises in the past two years around the world but the Hungarian crisis management model has proven a success, he said. Thanks to a fast vaccination campaign, Hungary was able to reopen around two months before the European average, he added.

Economic performance returned to the pre-crisis level by last summer and a “triple record” was set, with record high investment, employment and exports reached in 2021, Szijjártó said. Cooperation between Hungary’s economy and the German car industry has played an important role in this, he added.

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