Viktor Eszterhai and Zoltán Vörös
Hungary has become one of the clearest windows into the unstoppable advance of Chinese competitiveness in the global battery industry. What began as a Korean-led success story is now transforming into a live demonstration of how quickly – and how decisively – Chinese firms can reshape high-tech markets. Billions in new investments, massive gigafactory projects, and rapid technological expansion are redefining the balance of power in Europe’s EV sector.
For Hungary, this shift is both a monumental opportunity and a growing economic risk. The country set out to build a world-class battery hub, hoping the sector would become a new engine of growth. Instead, the landscape now shows a more complex reality: Chinese capacity is surging, while the Korean pioneers who first anchored the industry are seeing production fall, utilization drop, and orders slip away.
With a long-standing automotive industry accounting for a third of industrial output, the government views the shift to electric vehicles not as a challenge, but as an opportunity to secure and modernize its critical car manufacturing base. Batteries are seen as indispensable to this future, and Hungary aims to become a leading European hub for EV production and the full associated supply chain. To achieve this, the country is localizing every part of the battery ecosystem – cathodes, anodes, separators, and assembly lines – while actively inviting global technology leaders to establish operations on Hungarian soil.
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