Hungary’s industrial output fell by less than expected in August, analysts told MTI on Friday, after the publication of fresh data. Industrial output fell an unadjusted 0.8% in August from the same period a year earlier, the Central Statistics Office (KSH) said early Friday. Adjusted for the number of workdays in the period, output rose 1.4%.

Márta Balog-Beki of Quaestor Securities said the drop was much less than the 1.5% fall expected earlier. She attributed the slower decline to expanding automotive industry output and improved performance in the oil industry.

TakarékBank’s Gergely Suppan said the workday-adjusted increase was a positive surprise. Output should be supported in the coming months by the start of a second shift at German carmaker Daimler’s new plant in Kecskemét (C Hungary) and the launch of production at an expansion at the Opel plant in Szentgotthárd (W Hungary).

Zoltán Török of Raiffeisen Bank said the decline in August was well under the 2.0-2.5% drop across the European Union. He added that the expanding automotive sector could still not offset the declines in other segments of the economy.