BUDAPEST (Reuters) – Hungary is able to supply money to Audi (NSUG.DE) to help make its production facility in the country run at full capacity, Prime Minister Viktor Orban said on Monday while visiting the site.
Orban said Audi is the key to the recovery of the Hungarian economy after the adverse effects of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We will have to fight for the Audi factory as well,” said official news firm MTI, quoting Orban.
MTI said Audi’s engine and car production facility in the town of Gyor in western Hungary returned to general operation with 3 teams on Monday after weeks of disruption during the pandemic.
“We can protect jobs with agreements,” Orban said. The Prime Minister did not specify Audi’s main points, which hired another 12,807 people at the end of 2019 and is one of Hungary’s main exporters and revenue resources.
An Audi spokeswoman declined to comment.
The Gyor plant manufactured 1.97 million engines and 164817 cars last year, the Q3 Sportback, RS Q3 and RS Q3 Sportback, after investments of more than 11.5 billion euros since Audi’s access to Hungary.
Orban said hungary’s leading automakers can take up to two years to expand pre-pandemic plans, indicating a potentially long recovery for the local automotive sector, a pillar of Hungary’s economy.
MTI quoted Audi Hungaria President Alfons Dintner as saying the Hungarian plant is still well below pre-crisis production levels, adding that visitors call it “moderates.”
Reporting through Krisztina Than and Gergely Szakacs; Editing through Kirsten Donovan
All quotes were delayed for at least 15 minutes. See here for a complete list of operations and delays.
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