TIM State Secretary: the country strives for a leading role in the vehicle industry

Zsófia Koncz said on the fourth innovation day of the ZalaZONE Automotive Test Track: Europe's largest and one of the world's most modern vehicle industry test tracks was built in Zalaegerszeg. One of the best research infrastructures in Hungary is very necessary in order to achieve world-leading results.
At the event in Zalaegerszeg, which this time mainly presented the research results of the civilian and military use of drones, the state secretary emphasized that since 2010, the Hungarian government has given special support to research and development, innovation and investments that create marketable products and services based on Hungarian ideas. From the beginning, the goal was "to make the industry high-tech, green and Hungarian".

"The government is working to ensure that the effects of the worsening international crisis phenomena are felt as little as possible by Hungarian families and domestic businesses". A good basis for this is that since 2010, Hungarian industry has been continuously strengthening, it was already particularly robust before the epidemic, and it was due to this that growth started very quickly after the pandemic - indicated the politician.

Zsófia Koncz highlighted: after last year's very high economic growth of 7.1 percent, this year's GDP growth in the second quarter was 6.5 percent, compared to the EU average of 4.2 percent. The performance of the automotive industry is particularly outstanding, which also rose significantly in the first seven months.

Vehicle production is a determining factor in domestic economic and industrial performance, employment and exports. 13-15 percent of the gross national product is due to the 740 automotive manufacturers and suppliers in Hungary - confirmed the politician.

The state secretary also recalled that according to the Global Innovation Index, Hungary is among the top ten in the world in high-tech production, and in a European comparison, the Hungarian high-tech share of 70 percent competes with Germany and Denmark, to which companies from the vehicle industry contribute to a large extent. The number of people working in this sector has more than doubled since 2010, to 170-175 thousand in Hungary, the number of development engineers and researchers has increased significantly, it was approximately 3 thousand at the beginning of the last decade, and today it is more than 10 thousand - listed Zsófia Koncz.

The state secretary also noted that the domestic added value currently accounts for about 45-50 percent in the vehicle industry. The stated intention is to increase this ratio to 65 percent by 2030, he said.

A significant role in the success was the rapid growth of research and development and innovation expenditures. According to the latest data from the KSH, this value reached a new record in 2021, exceeding HUF 900 billion, which represents an increase of HUF 200 billion in two years, emphasized Zsófia Koncz.

He also indicated that ZalaZONE has a prominent role in TIM's sector vision, and they are striving for all three German premium car brands with production capacities in Hungary to use the track's services by 2030.

(Source: autokalauz.co.hu; MTI | Image: pixabay.com)