China's King Long seeks location in Hungary for bus assembly plant

Kelemen told a press conference on Friday there are very few concrete details about the deal, adding, though that Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co. Ltd., the majority-owned (51%) bus making unit of Xiamen KLM Motor Group, has already signed a Letter of Intent and the project is currently in the planning phase.

He named three potential locations for the plant, the Southern Great Plain (Dél-Alföld), somewhere around Gyöngyös (80 km northeast of Budapest) and Miskolc (northwest Hungary). The assembly unit is to be financed from Chinese sources only and may be up and running in about six months, Kelemen said.

Xiamen King Long, one of the world’s largest bus makers, has been operating in Europe for seven years and has been selling buses in Hungary for two years.

Xiamen King Long posted CNY 1.1 billion revenues (cc. EUR 100 m) in 2008 and has sold 1,000 buses in Europe so far, of which 150 are in circulation in Hungary.

Kelemen noted that King Long buses and coaches come with a number of high-quality parts manufactured in Europe, including gear boxes and wheels produced in Hungary.

He added that the local plant would assemble at least two buses a day and will deliver primarily to European markets.

Founded in December 1988, Xiamen King Long United Automotive Industry Co., Ltd is one of the earliest Sino-foreign joint ventures in the passenger car industry. Its major shareholders are Xiamen King Long Motor Co., Ltd, Xiamen State-owned Assets Investment Corp. and Taiwan San Yang Industry Co., Ltd that hold 51%, 24% and 25% of its shares respectively.

In Europe it mainly sells city buses and coaches, but the group also produces passenger cars, tourist buses, vans and special buses. It ships its products to every continent. The Hungarian office boasts a 5-year sales contract expiring in 2013, Kelemen added.

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