South Korean technology firm Samsung SDI is planning to invest €1.2bn in a Hungarian factory to build batteries for electric vehicles (EVs).
The plant will expand Samsung’s production of lithium-ion batteries in the country, which began in 2016 and expanded again in 2018 following the conversion of a plasma display plant in Göd to produce EV batteries.
That facility has the capacity to turn out batteries for 50,000 EVs a year. Kim Woochan, the managing director of Samsung SDI, said the new plant might become one of the largest in the world.
Péter Szijjártó, Hungary’s foreign minister, commented: "With this new investment, it is now clear that Hungary will become one of the strongholds of European car manufacturing in the new automotive era."
He added that the plant would ensure that the Hungarian economy would expand by 2% more than the EU average.
Two other South Korean EV battery-makers, Inzi Controls and SK Innovation, have also invested in Hungary.
The government of Hungary is planning to offer a grant for an undisclosed amount to Samsung for the project, which will create 1,200 jobs, but this has yet to be approved by the European Commission.
Samsung SDI has two factories in Asia and one in Europe, in Göd. The company’s plan, if it goes ahead, will be the third largest foreign investment in the Hungarian economy since 2016.
Image: Samsung’s Göd plant north of Budapest (Bjoertvedt/CC BY-SA 3.0)
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