Jaguar Land Rover to open technical centre in Budapest
Hungarian engineering office will be close to JLR suppliers in central and eastern Europe
Jaguar Land Rover has confirmed plans to open a technical engineering office in Budapest.
The Hungarian centre will open in early 2019, and has been announced just a week after the firm’s new Slovakian manufacturing facility officially opened.
It will employ 100 engineers in the centre, working in JLR’s supply chain to improve support for parts and component suppliers in central and eastern Europe. It joins centres in the UK, Republic of Ireland, China and North America.
Hungary was chosen, the firm says, because of its history of automotive engineering. The country produces cars for Mercedes-Benz, Audi and Opel, and estimated production is more than 400,000 cars a year.
Nick Rogers, JLR’s executive director of product engineering, said: “Hungary has a strong track record in automotive engineering. We have chosen it as the location for a new engineering office to enable close collaboration with our suppliers located in central and eastern Europe.
“The team in Budapest will complement the suppliers and supplier technical assistance that we already partner with in the region, as well as our teams in the UK.”
Hungary’s minister for foreign affairs and trade, Péter Szijjártó, said: “Today’s announcement by Jaguar Land Rover marks a new chapter in the Hungarian automotive industry.
“The decision of the UK’s largest automotive manufacturer to open a technical engineering office in Budapest reaffirms our specific focus on high-quality automotive-related growth.”
JLR is currently hiring engineers to work at the centre.
