Economics

BMW Hands Hungary Plant Boost to Help Keep Economy Firing

  • German carmaker to open first plant in nation’s poorer east
  • PM Orban wants GDP to grow at 4% a year or more through 2022
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Hungary’s goal to keep economic growth near a four-year high got a boost as BMW AG pledged to build a 1 billion-euro ($1.2 billion) car plant.

While increasing reliance on an industry that’s at the center of global trade tensions, the investment reinforces the country and the wider region as a global auto-making hub. For Prime Minister Viktor Orban, it’s a vindication of his dedication to manufacturers even as he upset banks and foreign retailers in creating his “illiberal” state.