Hungary has become a major hub for automotive investments and electric vehicle production in Europe. Several major automakers like Audi, Mercedes, BMW and others have large manufacturing plants in Hungary, employing thousands of workers. These plants produce hundreds of thousands of vehicles annually. Additionally, many battery and electric vehicle component companies from Asia have recently established factories in Hungary, helping the country become a leader in European electric vehicle production. One such company is SK Innovation, which is building a large battery factory in Hungary supported by over €1 billion in investments.

1. Hungary: Home of automotive investments
1
Manufacturer
Start of
production
Employees
Motor vehicle
production (pcs)
(pcs)
Engine
production (pcs)
(pcs)
Opel 1992 1000 - 600,000
Suzuki 1992 2700 180,000* -
Audi 1994 13400 33.553 1,915,567
Mercedes 2012 4300 160,000 -
BMW 2025
EV car plan:
150,000
The most important players in the Hungarian car industry
•Győr: Audi Hungaria Zrt.
•Kecskemét: Mercedes-Benz Manufacturing
Hungary
•Szentgotthárd: Opel
•Esztergom: Magyar Suzuki Zrt.
•Debrecen: BMW
• Audi Győr produces engines for all brands in the VW Group (The second largest engine production plant in the world)
• Mercedes has picked Hungary as its first manufacturing facility outside Germany
• Suzuki has an assembly line since 1992 in Esztergom

2. Top reasons for Hungary
2
• Central location
At the cross roads of 4 main European transportation corridors – it’s a deal logistical center for automotive industry (90% of Hungary”s
automotive production goes for export)
• Cost efficiency
Competitive wages and labor cost/value ratio in European comparison in the CEE region
• Tradition of innovation
Long and succesful tradition of cooperation between the universities and the producers in R&D
• Long-term planning
According to sectorial estimations around 550.000 passanger cars are manufactured yearly in Hungary
• Strong supplier base
Over 600 companies in the automotive sector
12 of the 15 leading Tier 1 company settled down in Hungary
Strong governmental supplier development activity
Extended vertical and horizontal supplier connections
• Prosperous future
By 2025 Hungary is to become the second largest EV battery manufactoring country in Europe after Germany and will be also in the global
top 5

3. Competence centers
3
• Győr (engine, vehicle manufacturing)
• Veszprem (mechatronics, fuels and lubricants)
• Budapest (vehicle technology, electronics, mechatronics)
• Kecskemét (material sciences, vehicle assemly)
• Miskolc (driveline systems, mechatronics)

4. Debrecen in a brief
4
• Second largest and one of the most developed city in Hungary
• Capital of Hungary’s Northern Great Plain region
• Population: 202,520
• Distance from Budapest: 231 km
• Home of a BMW factory that will play a key role in electric vehicle production, where they plan to make 150.000
electric cars/year from 2025
• It has an airport and the cities that can be reached from the Debrecen Airport include Brussels, Eindhoven,
London, Malmö, Milan, Tel Aviv, Moscow and Paris
• The city has a university that was established in 1538 and has 30,418 students
• CATL will invest 7.34 billion euros to build a 100 GWh battery plant in Debrecen
• It will supply both cells and modules to European automakers and become one of the leading battery
production sites of the world
Debrecen is located at the heart of Europe, and with close proximity to some auto plants of its customers such as Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Stellantis and
Volkswagen, CATL’s Debrecen plant will enable it to better cope with the battery demands of the European market, improve its global production
network development, and help accelerate e-mobility and energy transition in Europe.

5. Asian investments in Hungary’s electric automotive industry in recent years
5
Company Country Activities Location Year of investment
SK Innovation South Korea Battery factory Iváncsa 2021
Samsung South Korea Battery factory Göd 2017
GS Yuasa Japan Battery factory Miskolc 2019
Semcorp China Separator foil factory Debrecen 2021
Solus Advanced Materials/Doosan South Korea Copper foil factory Tatabánya 2020
Toray/Zoltek Japan Separator foil factory Nyergesújfalu 2021
Soulbrain South Korea Electrolyte production Tatabánya 2021
Mektec/enmech Japan Battery part factory Pécel 2020
Sangsin South Korea Battery frame factory Jászberény 2021
Shenzhen Kedali China Battery part factory Gödöllő 2021
Iljin Materials South Korea Copper foil factory Gödöllő 2021
Dongwha South Korea Electrolyte production and recycling
recycling
Sóskút 2021
Inzi Controls South Korea Battery part factory Komárom 2020
Shinheung South Korea Battery frame factory Monor 2019

6. SK on Hungary electric vehicle battery plant
6
In March 2022, The European Commission has found that Hungary's €209 million measure in favour of SK On Hungary is in line with EU
State aid rules. The investment aid will support the construction of a new battery cell manufacturing plant in the Közép-Dunántúl region,
focusing on lithium-ion battery cells and battery modules for electric vehicles.
SK On Hungary's total investment into the project, which started in early 2021, will be of €1,623 million.
SK Innovation started the development of lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicles in 2005 and moved on to production in 2006. The first milestone came in
2010, when we were selected as a battery provider for Hyundai’s BlueOn, Korea’s first electric vehicle, and Kia’s Ray. Only a year later, we started supplying batteries
to SLS AMG E-Cell, the first electric supercar of Mercedes-AMG.
SK on Hungary is SK Innovation’s first European battery plant to produce third-generation battery cells for Global auto maker using pouch
technology.