To boost competitiveness, the company is aligning its Hungarian operations with its global restructuring process. The new structure is expected to result in more efficient R&D activities and outstanding customer focus. As part of the changes, global business support functions will be strengthened in Budapest.
According to Forte Communications Ltd., last spring thyssenkrupp Automotive Technology announced a cost-cutting package worth around €150 million in response to persistently challenging market conditions. Under the new structure, the company will operate globally with around 1,800 fewer employees.
As part of the international restructuring, thyssenkrupp is optimizing its employment structure in Hungary: the current headcount of around 1,300 in Budapest will be reduced by about 80. In addition, due to the weak outlook for the global automotive industry and uncertainties arising from trade wars, the company has suspended new hiring. Later, however, around 100 new positions will be created at the same Hungarian site in business support functions tied to global responsibilities.
The restructuring affects only the Budapest site. The Budapest E/E (electrical and electronic) Competence Center’s strategic importance is based on internationally recognized expertise, ongoing developments, and activities such as the recently established accredited EMC (electromagnetic compatibility) laboratory and extensive joint research projects with Hungarian universities.
The advanced development division, also based in Budapest and part of the competence center, plays a key role in designing the company’s strategically important new products. Other thyssenkrupp sites in Hungary—including the factories in Jászfényszaru, Debrecen, and Győr, which employ around 2,000 people—will not be affected by the restructuring.
The Budapest E/E Competence Center, employing around 1,300 highly skilled software and hardware engineers, was founded 26 years ago based on the ideas of Hungarian engineers. The “smart” electromechanical steering systems developed in Hungary for the world’s largest car manufacturers provide a wide range of state-of-the-art driver assistance solutions and are compatible with the highest levels of autonomous driving systems.
In addition to its steer-by-wire systems (which replace mechanical connections with purely electronic ones), thyssenkrupp is also developing proprietary applications supporting autonomous driving. Its globally unique advanced development division is researching future automotive solutions that do not yet exist. The center is regarded as one of the world’s best in its field.
Beyond development, thyssenkrupp is also engaged in manufacturing and assembly in Hungary: in Jászfényszaru, it produces electromechanical steering systems, camshafts integrated into cylinder heads, and other components used in electric vehicles; in Debrecen, it manufactures stabilizers and springs; and in Győr, it operates a chassis assembly plant.
Today, thyssenkrupp is among Hungary’s 100 largest employers and 50 companies with the highest export sales. It currently employs over 3,300 people in Hungary and has invested HUF 150 billion in the country over the past decade.
