Automaker Mercedes opened a new plant section in Kecskemét on July 13. Production capacity thereby rises to 400,000 units per year. Protests against the company's cost-cutting measures had previously taken place in Germany.
On July 13, Mercedes CEO Ola Källenius opened a new plant section in Kecskemét. The Hungarian factory is now the largest of Mercedes in Europe and the second largest worldwide after Beijing. Källenius emphasized at the ceremony that highest quality and highest cost efficiency go hand in hand.
Hungary's Prime Minister Péter Magyar attended the opening. He called the plant a strong symbol of German-Hungarian cooperation.
One week before July 3, the board had announced a tightening of the cost-cutting course in Germany. Employees are to work more without a pay raise. A special payment was postponed. On July 3, 18,000 employees demonstrated in Sindelfingen, Rastatt and Stuttgart-Untertürkheim against Källenius.