Global leader in producing car sound-systems, Harman International of Stamford, Connecticut, has received a HUF 368m (EUR 1.37m) grant from the Hungarian government to develop its electronics plant in Szekesfehervar (C Hungary) with a planned investment of HUF 3.7bn, the economic ministry announced on Monday in its official gazette.
The funding will go directly to Harman’s local subsidiary, Harman Becker Gepkocsirendszer Gyarto Kft.
The expansion of Harman in Hungary should be accomplished by June 2011, resulting in 260 new workplaces and doubling the exports of the Szekesfehervar plant.
The plant currently employs 466 people, generating annual revenue of HUF 14-15bn and all of its products are exported.
Harman International intends to convert its unit in Szekesfehervar into a European production base, increasing its workforce at the unit to around 700 in the initial phase of the planned expansion, to 1,400 in the following phase and to 2,000 in the next two or three years, President-CEO Dinesh C. Paliwal told Napi Gazdasag at the end of December.
Harman International Vice President for Operations David Karch told the paper that the company would like to move a major portion of its acoustics production in Great Britain and Germany to Hungary.