"Magyar Suzuki Corporation, the Hungarian unit of Japan's Suzuki Motor Corp., has on Wednesday reported a 145% boom in its car production for the first half of 2007.MSC manufactured 112,072 cars in the January-June period and it sold more than 116,252 cars, achieving a 18% market share in Hungary by end-June, CEO Isao Ozawa told a press conference in Esztergom, the location of the plant. In the same period of last year MSC sold 81,528 cars, implying a 142% yr/yr increase.
Nearly 14% of the cars sold (16,000) in H1 found owners in Hungary and over 86% (100,000) were exported.
By end-2007, MSC wishes to produce over 220,000 units, investing HUF 50 bn on expansion, tool/equipment modernisation, as well as trial then serial production of the new model at the end of this year and beginning of 2008.
Total export of Magyar Suzuki Corporation in 2006 (HUF 334.893 million) contributed to total Hungarian export with 2,2 %; while last year the company's trade balance for the benefit of export was HUF 54.623 million. In H1 this year however, the company posted HUF 67,101 million trade surplus.
In the first half of 2007 more than 53,000 Swift and over 45,000 SX4 were sold.
Suzuki launched its European Renaissance Program in 2003, with one of the main objectives being the capacity expansion of the Hungarian unit, as a result of which MSC wishes to produce 300.000 cars by the end of 2008. The current year is the peak of the Program from technological, material/tools investment and human resource viewpoint."
Source:
Portfolio Online Financial Journal
03.08.2007