Audi Hungaria’ pre-tax profit climbed 3.8% to €600 million, Roscheck said. Operating profit was flat at €551 million, he added.
Audi turned out 1,883,757 engines at its base in the Hungarian city of Győr in 2011, up 14.3% from the previous year, the company said in its annual report on Thursday.
Audi said 39,518 vehicles rolled off the line in Győr last year, up 2.5% from the previous year.
Roscheck said the company’s capital expenditures rose about 230% to €685 million last year as it spent €359 million on preparations for a big capacity expansion, while €74 million went toward developments at suppliers. About €107 million of CAPEX was for new products and €208 million was spent on constructing and outfitting structures at the plant. Hungarian sub-contractors completed 78% of the construction and outfitting work and won 46% of total contracts last year, he added.
The latest CAPEX brings the total spent at the base to €4.7 billion, making it the biggest private investment in Hungary, he said.
Audi Hungaria managing director Thomas Faustmann said 7,322 employees worked at the company at the end of 2011. He added that 1,400 new hires had been made in the course of the year.
Answering a question, Faustmann said a decision on where to build a logistics base for the plant had not been taken yet, but the chances it would be built in nearby Gönyű were “very good”. He added that a state-owned parcel of land in Gönyű had good road and rail connections, but the question remained how well Audi could use the rail connection.
Government commission for foreign investment Zsolt Becsey said earlier that the government would ensure all conditions necessary for the construction of the Audi logistics park at the port of Gönyű.
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