Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency

Róbert Keszte, managing director of Continental Automotive Kft., emphasised at the event that Continental is one of the leading technology enterprises in the world, which is present in Hungary with seven plants, a tyre trading agency, a logistics centre and an AI development centre and currently employs more than eight thousand employees, together with temporary agency workers. The greenfield investment for establishing the electronics factory of the company in Debrecen was started in the third quarter of 2018.

Continental Automotive Hungary Kft. manufactures high-tech electronics products at its Budapest site, which constitute key components for self-driving, connected and electricity powered vehicles, in accordance with the three mega-trends prevailing in the automotive industry. Significant new market opportunities open up for the company due to the expanding market for such products and to the fact that Continental's market-leading technologies have gained ground; for making the most of such opportunities the manufacturing capacities need to be expanded.

One of the main domains of expansion will be the boosting of the production of telematic control units that establish the Internet connection for cars, as well as that of infotainment systems that serve for entertaining the passengers and providing them with information. Other intensively expanding areas are the manufacturing of electronic systems for electricity and hybrid powered vehicles, as well as manufacturing of high-voltage inverters, low-voltage direct current converters and integrated motor generators. In addition, the manufacturing of braking command units suitable for braking autonomous cars as well, will continue to remain an important and stable area of business.

The capacity expansion will go hand in hand with the establishment of new manufacturing and storage buildings, too: Continental plans to enlarge its Budapest site in Napmátka street by 7000 square metres of manufacturing area in the period 2018-2020. This enlargement will not only signify an increase of the floor area but also a complete reconstruction of the structures and infrastructure of the site, which has become necessary after 25 years of continuous operation.

The manufacturing lines producing the new products will incorporate all the new developments of the Industry 4.0 technologies, given that the Budapest plant of the company is one of the facilities that have been awarded the "Industry 4.0 Model Factory" title by the Ministry of National Economy. They will also contribute thereby to the improvement of the technological level of the Hungarian industry and will also support their Hungarian suppliers in becoming their partners in applying such technologies.

The expansion of capacities will be accompanied by an increase of the staff of employees. Due to the requirements of increasing efficiency and the continuous introduction of Industry 4.0 technologies, there will be a shift in headcount demand from colleagues working in manufacturing areas towards a need for collaborators doing intellectual work.

Continental AG has invested some 500 million EUR in Hungary during the past decade. The Group achieved a turnover of 44.4 billion EUR worldwide in 2018 and currently employs almost 245 thousand employees in 60 countries.