Autoneum opens first plant in Hungary

Owing to demand, Autoneum is expanding its European production capacities and yesterday opened a plant for the manufacture of lightweight components for acoustic and thermal management in Komárom, Hungary. At Autoneum’s sixth Eastern European production site, multifunctional carpet systems will be produced in series for a German premium car manufacturer within a few weeks.

From its 12000-square-meter plant in the northern Hungarian city of Komárom, the market leader in acoustic and thermal management will in future supply German and British manufacturers with carpet systems, inner dashes and wheelhouse outer liners as well as other NVH (noise, vibration, harshness) components just-in-time at their nearby production sites in Hungary and Slovakia. The first carpet systems for the models of a German premium car manufacturer will roll off the production line in a few weeks. Furthermore, lightweight textile wheelhouse outer liners produced in Komárom will be built into a fully electric SUV of a British manufacturer, thereby contributing to noise and weight reduction of this model.

As part of the implementation of sustainable production processes at all Autoneum locations, the Company plans to recycle production scrap and waste at the plant as well as to make them available for reuse outside of the component production. The plant is also prepared for the use of driverless trains, allowing for optimized transport routes and ensuring highly efficient material flows.

“Strong customer demand and near maximum capacity utilization at our European production sites have made the construction of this new plant in Eastern Europe essential. This investment will ensure that our customers will be supplied with innovative light-weight components just-in-time at ideal logistics conditions. Given the proximity of the plant to the production facilities of numerous car manufacturers, the site in Komárom has already been designed for an expansion of its production area”, said Autoneum CEO Martin Hirzel at the plant’s opening ceremony.

In Eastern Europe, Autoneum already operates two plants (Bor, Choceň) as well as a tooling workshop (Hnátnice) in the Czech Republic, two production sites in Poland (Katowice, Nowogard) and a plant in the Russian city of Ryazan.