Samsung SDI plans to invest about one hundred billion HUF to build a plant to make electric vehicle batteries in Hungary, joining the race to build capacity and tap European demand at a time of disappointing Chinese demand, Reuters reports today.
Samsung SDI, whose customers include BMW, said that the proposed factory near Budapest would start production in the second half of 2018 and it would be able to produce batteries used for 50,000 pure electric vehicles annually.
The plant will "help us save logistics costs and quickly cope with demand from customers, as European companies have manufacturing bases around Hungary," Samsung SDI, an affiliate of Samsung Electronics, said in a statement.
The company currently produces batteries for BMW's i3 in South Korea. Samsung SDI last year started production at its factory in China, the world's biggest EV market, but subsidy regulations have hampered its sales.
The move will further stimulate economic growth in Hungary and also provide more than 600 jobs for local residents.