Budapest

Production of the new A3 will be launched at Audi’s Győr plant in June. In this interview, Managing Director Thomas Faustmann dismisses quality concerns and criticizes Hungary’s university reform.

Audi will open its first plant for the production of whole cars at Győr in June. With an annual output capacity of 125,000 units, your plant will then become one of the most important sites for Audi’s compact models. In Germany, there are doubts whether production in Hungary will be able to maintain the high quality standards. What do you answer critical people?

Faustmann: Quality is our top priority. The Audi production system is the standard that applies to all Audi sites worldwide. We produce premium products at Győr – they are among the best on the global market. This is true both for engines and for cars. We have been putting much effort into our production process in the past twenty years and we are top class when it comes to quality. We do not compromise on our new production lines.

In your new car production, however, you are also dependent on reliable suppliers ...

Many of our trusted suppliers followed us to Győr. We have around 50 suppliers based in Hungary. Most international companies that operate in Hungary develop their products in the R&D centres at their headquarters. When selecting our suppliers we always ask: Do they have the right technology to meet our demands? Is quality assured? Decisive criteria for a premium producer are not only cost structures, but also technology and quality. This requires a certain amount of research and development.

You are currently making an effort to assimilate your training programs in Hungary to the dual system used in Germany. How has this worked for you so far?

If it weren’t for Audi, Hungarian workers would in extreme cases undergo their three-year training at vocational school without any on-the-job experience. We want our trainees to gain practical experience earlier. In their second year of training, trainees come to our plant to learn the ropes from our local experts. We run 13 different job-training programs at our project and training centre that was newly built by us one and a half years ago. However, there still are differences: In Germany, trainees conclude a contract with the company. In Hungary, this is presently not the case; no contracts are being concluded before training has been completed. We also apply very strict selection criteria to the recruitment of new workers. As a result, our production team has a very high qualification level.

Two other big automakers, Daimler and Suzuki, have opened plants in Hungary. Do you now experience problems in finding qualified workers?

No. We received more than 42,000 applications last year alone. In 2012, we were elected Hungary’s most attractive employer for the fourth time. We offer attractive conditions of employment and a value-based leadership system. In addition, we pay good salaries – roughly 20 percent above the industry average.

But those who leave the country may earn even more abroad ...

Hungarians feel a strong attachment to their country. And those who work for Audi Hungaria have a safe, crisis-proof job. We proved that during the crisis in 2008-2009. If you go to a bank with one of our plant ID cards, it’s like having a credit card. For example, it is easier for Audi employees to get a home mortgage. Due to all these factors, jobs with our company are in high demand.

The labour market is much more international when it comes to highly qualified staff. What do you do to ensure sufficient availability of engineers in the future?

We cooperate closely with Győr’s Széchenyi István University in the field of engineer training. We established three professorships there. Our aim is to transfer the expertise of the automobile industry to academia, helping graduates to achieve a higher level of learning by the time they complete their studies. This way we make sure that our graduates can quickly be put to good use after they leave university. We invite experts from Germany to hold lectures in our German-language Master’s programmes. That’s unique in Hungary and unique across the VW group.

Although you train engineers here in Hungary, development activities continue mostly in Germany. Will this stay that way?

We have a clear mission: to produce cutting-edge products in serial production. The products are of course developed in Germany, engines for instance at our sites in Ingolstadt and Neckarsulm. Actually, our plant here also has a development centre for engines. 165 people work there, 120 of them are engineers who work on new products and partial developments, for instance the development of a new cylinder head, together with their colleagues in Germany.

There is much controversy in Hungary’s current discussion about the educational reform. The government plans to cut university funding. How do you see this development?

Education first costs money, but later it pays off. This country’s resources are the people who live here, and the Hungarian Government knows that. The better training people receive, the easier it will later be for them to find jobs. This should be done in cooperation with the industrial enterprises operating in Hungary.

And yet many young Hungarians think about leaving the country because of the current educational reforms and the difficulties obtaining an education loan  ...

I don’t think it’s a good idea to make people stay. Freedom is one of the most important assets I can think of. Freedom does not mean being able to do as you want. Freedom means not having to do something that you don’t want to do. Hungary has to ask: How can we be attractive for our young people? Hungary is a great country. A lot of great young people live here and it is fun to work here. Hungary does not have to keep its people in the country with financial means.