Daimler may expand plant, Iveco eyes Hungary

Reuters (Budapest) - German car maker Daimler AG (DAIGn.DE) may double the capacity of its Hungarian car plant, while Fiat SpA's (FIA.MI) Iveco may also start up production in Hungary, business daily Napi Gazdasag said on Thursday.

Citing unnamed market sources, the paper said Daimler -- which is building an 800 million euro ($1.2 billion) car plant at Kecskemet in eastern Hungary -- would wait for the test run of this plant and could make a decision about possible further expansion afterwards.

It also said Iveco may also build a plant in Kecskemet, but no decision had been made yet on either of the two investments.

German carmaker Audi AG (NSUG.DE) announced a 900 million euros expansion of its Hungarian plant last autumn, which would lift production to 125,000 vehicles a year once its expanded plant begins full production from 2013.

Napi Gazdasag cited Economy Ministry state secretary Zsolt Becsey as saying it was encouraging that several big investors were buying plots of land which could lead to a significant boost of their capacities.