Two automotive companies — Meleghy Automotive and GKN — will establish production sites while LEGO expands its packaging and storage operations, bringing more than $320 million in investment to Hungary.
In Miskolc, Meleghy Automotive will invest $24.2 million to establish production capacities in Hungary. The premium automotive supplier will create 55 new jobs with the project. In addition to its new location in Hungary, Germany-based Meleghy & Cie Automotive GmbH’s foreign operations include plants in Spain and the Czech Republic.
Meleghy Automotive supplies bodywork components to premium OEMs throughout Europe, including BMW and Mercedes-Benz. The company plans to set up a production unit and a facility that will house office and a storage space, totaling nearly 65,000 square feet. A recent groundbreaking ceremony marked the official launch of the construction phase, and production is scheduled to start in August 2025.
Meleghy Automotive picked the city of Miskolc for the expansion project due to its proximity to regional and other Eur opean customers. As a result, Meleghy Automotive will be able to make its supply chain more efficient by decreasing transport times. Customers will also be able to respond more quickly to changing market needs.
More News From Hungary
- Switzerland-based Stadler Group will expand its rail car body manufacturing capacity with an investment of nearly $48 million in Szolnok, creating 173 jobs.
- Benepack Hungary Kft. is investing nearly $69 million to build a large-scale aluminum beverage can plant in Makó, creating 120 jobs in Csongrád-Csanád County. Production is scheduled to launch in fall 2024.
- LG Magna e-Powertrain, a joint venture between LG Electronics and Magna, will invest more than $54 million to build its first European production facility in Miskolc. The project will create about 200 jobs.
- German automotive firm Kirchhoff is investing a total of nearly $53 million to expand its sites in Esztergom and Dorog, both in Pest County. The projects will create 80 new jobs.
LEGO Plans Large-Scale Packaging,Storage Capacity Expansion
A nearly $146 million investment by Danish toy maker LEGO will fund another round of development at the company’s Nyíregyháza site. Packaging and storage capacities will be ramped up significantly, resulting in the creation of up to 300 new jobs from 2023 to 2025.
LEGO has operated in Hungary for 15 years. The highly automated Hungarian plant in Nyíregyháza is one of five facilities LEGO operates all over the world which cover the entire manufacturing process from moulding to decoration to packaging.
This latest expansion in Nyíregyháza includes the establishment of two new packaging plants, 17 new packaging lines, a manual storage facility, and an office building. The area of operation will be expanded by nearly 323,000 square feet, bringing the total area to more than 2,798,616 square feet by the second half of 2025.
British Automotive Supplier To Create 1,500 Jobs In Hungary
In Felsőzsolca, UK-based GKN is investing more than $150 million in a new site. The automotive supplier will create 1,500 jobs at the facility, which will serve the regional hubs of TIER1 companies.
GKN has operations in 20 countries around the world, with a total of 51 manufacturing facilities and six technology centers. The company supplies automotive powertrains to 90% of the world’s car manufacturers.
GKN’s new production unit in Felsőzsolca will serve BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Suzuki and Volkswagen plants in the region. The main function of the site is the production of half-shafts, a key component in the company’s product portfolio, for both internal combustion engines and electric drive systems. In 2023, 230,000 half-shafts will be produced, while the final capacity planned for 2025 will allow the production of 3 million units.
In the first phase of the investment, a 312,153-square-foot complex of buildings has been built, including a production and logistics facility, an engineering center and an office building. An additional 645,834-square-feet building is currently under construction, which will create 200 jobs this year and 1,500 by the end of 2026.
