GKN Automotive, a tier one supplier of vehicle drive systems, has completed construction of a new manufacturing facility in Felsőzsolca in north-eastern Hungary. The site, located near Miskolc, has been built to give the company a base close to key OEM customers in the country, which has become a major player in the automotive industry, with 420,000 cars and 1.9 million engines produced in the country every year.
The site, which will become operational in October 2023, will be responsible for producing sideshafts. GKN Automotive estimates the site will produce approximately 230,000 sideshafts for customers between October and December 2023, with further capacity expected to follow.
The facility covers approximately 29,000 square metres, comprising a production and logistics hall, an office building, and an engineering centre complete with testing facilities.
The plant will complement GKN Automotive’s existing network of production sites in the region, which include Oleśnica in Poland and Zreče in Slovenia. In the long term, these plants, along with other GKN Automotive sites globally, will also support the growing demand for eDrive systems and components.
Following a comprehensive site selection process, the location in the Felsőzsolca Industrial Zone was deemed the most suitable due to its links to international transport and trade. Its nearby city, Miskolc, has a strong and diverse education system and is home to the second-largest technical university in Hungary, the University of Miskolc, which can potentially providing a pipeline of skilled technicians.
