Ten years of Audi engine plant in Hungary
Györ/Ingolstadt (ots)
Broadcasting embargo: 24th September 2003, 2.30 p.m. (not for agencies)
* Hungarian Prime Minister Peter Medgyessy and Audi Chairman of
the Board of Management Dr. Martin Winterkorn acclaim the
achievements of Audi's Hungarian subsidiary
* Audi Hungaria: largest exporter and investor in Hungary
* Over 7.4 million engines and 259,000 cars built
* Capital investments totalling EUR 1.6 billion to date
* Development activities to be stepped upAUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. is today celebrating its tenth anniversary in Györ. The official celebrations are being attended by the Hungarian Prime Minister Péter Medgyessy, Dr. Bernd Pischetsrieder, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of AUDI AG, the members of the Audi Supervisory Board and Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of AUDI AG. Audi Hungaria is the principal engine supplier of the Audi Group and a fully-owned subsidiary of Audi. In his speech to mark the occasion, Dr. Winterkorn announced that Audi will be significantly stepping up its engine development activities at Györ.
Audi Hungaria has been Hungary's leading exporter for many years, and is one of the country's highest-revenue enterprises. Since the start of series production in 1994, a total of more than 7.4 million engines and 259,000 of the Audi TT and Audi A3 vehicles have been built at Györ. A sum of EUR 1.6 billion has been invested there since the establishment of the company.
Dr. Martin Winterkorn stressed: "Audi Hungaria has demonstrated in recent years that this location is among the best in the whole world in respect of productivity, production processes and plant structures." He added that the success of the Audi brand would be inconceivable without the quality of the engines supplied by Györ. Audi relied on the specialist knowledge of its skilled workers and engineers in Hungary, as demonstrated by the Györ engine development centre, where development capacity was set to double in the future.
The building complex, which was opened mid-way through 2001, operates as part of a network of development centres. The development activities of the Hungarian engineers focus on the series production operations at Györ. There will be around 100 Hungarian development engineers and designers working on behalf of the entire Group by mid-2004.
Audi Hungaria commenced operations in 1993 with around 80 employees. The company now numbers over 4,800 employees. Chairman of the Works Council Imre Kelemen regards this as illustrative both of the impressive efficiency of the region's workers and of the high standard of qualifications of all employees. Audi Hungaria is the largest employer in the region, directly and indirectly providing almost 12,000 jobs in and around Györ.
Over the course of the company's ten-year history, the industrial site has grown from 250,000 m2 to 730,000 m2. The production capacity installed in 1993 of 2,000 units a day was gradually boosted to 6,500 engines a day. Audi Hungaria engines are currently manufactured in 370 versions and fitted in some 35 different models of the Audi, Volkswagen, SEAT and Skoda brands. The Audi TT Coupé and TT Roadster sports cars, which are likewise built at Györ, are supplied to over 40 countries.
Audi Hungaria was established in 1993 by AUDI AG. In the same year, the company commenced production of the newly-launched generation of four-cylinder engines with five-valve technology. Three years later, production of six and eight-cylinder engines commenced at Györ. The production range of Audi Hungaria expanded with the addition of the "Audi TT Coupé" sports model, which was joined one year later by the "Audi TT Roadster". Production of four-cylinder diesel engines with pump-injector technology commenced at the start of 2000. In addition, Audi A3 cars were built between 2001 and the start of 2003. Production operations have been flanked by the development and planning activities of the Györ engine development centre since 2001.
Note: A photo of production is available via obs (dpa). Pictures of the event will be available via obs from 4.30 p.m. and can be called up, along with other photos of production, via www.audi-press.com, user ID aupr0339, password wss476 (valid until 28.09.). Photos of the engine and vehicle production lines can also be downloaded from www.audi.hu/galeria/képek.
ots Original Text Service: Internet: http://www.presseportal.de
AUDI AG Communication: Audi Sites Joachim Cordshagen Tel. +49 (0)841 89 36340 joachim.cordshagen@audi.de www.audi.com
AUDI HUNGARIA MOTOR Kft. Corporate Communication Péter Löre Tel.: +36 (0)96 66 1265 peter.lore@audi.hu www.audi.hu
Original content of: Audi AG, transmitted by news aktuell