Hungarian Investment Promotion Agency

„So, you are going to Jaguar Land Rover, huh? That’s in district four, I’ll take you there,” the taxi driver says. He wants to drive us there in spite of his company’s switchboard operator’s instruction that clearly defined a location in district 13. Luckily, the driver can be convinced to stick to the original plan at last, so, your correspondent does end up on the right spot: JLR’s state-of-the-art office building.

“Many still associate JLR with the dealership that is, indeed, in district four,” Ákos Garaba, CEO of JLR Hungary Kft. explains. “My neighbor’s best guess was also that I’d be in sales when he saw my JLR Defender in the driveway.”

CEE, the Hotbed of Strategic Suppliers

The company set up its engineering center in 2018 in Budapest, and apparently it will take a while till that message comes across in the general public. It shouldn’t be like that, though. The Hungarian capital has quickly evolved into one of the leading innovation hubs of the corporation, with a 300+ headcount by now.

“Hungary has always been on the map, and careful planning preceded JLR’s move to set up crucial engineering capacities here,” Mr. Garaba notes.

Expectations have been high from the outset. The local team was charged with maintaining close contact with CEE-based suppliers as well as carrying out large-scale product development and testing. For JLR has 650+ suppliers in the region that produce some 27,000 parts in value of over GBP 5 billion. That accounts for 50% of all auto parts needed for assembly.

Among those suppliers is Dana Hungary that has been recently granted the JLRQ Award for consistently meeting high-quality standards over the long term and demonstrating itself as a reliable partner. (Read Dana’s investor journey here.) The proximity of partners is a huge asset, and the communications gap is also gone thanks to using Hungarian as the main working language.

Record Profits Don’t Just Emerge out of Thin Air

Just how hard the staff works is showcased by record profits as JLR has recently reported the highest quarterly profits since 2017. “Profound changes that were set into motion a few years ago now start to bear fruit,” Mr. Garaba says.

That efficiency is what drives revenues up, not bigger sales. “We are much more into quality than quantity, we don’t aim to sell models in the millions.”

This whole new approach was initially forced upon the company by the crises of the recent past from covid to supply chain disruptions to whopping energy prices. It now comes in handy, though, in the wake of the transition. The first of our all-electric Jaguars is on the horizon with a purpose to 'Inspire like no other', illustrating the promise to do things differently and attract a new audience of discerning clients.

Automotive Won’t be Eaten up by Simplicity

In stakeholder events pundits claim that due to the simplified structure of EVs and Gen Z’s anti car ownership approach OEMs will have a hard time to differentiate themselves, and many suppliers won’t survive given that a lot less parts will be needed. Mr. Garaba believes that suppliers have been responding to the electrification-induced changes for years now. They have also realized how important of a role software would play. He is not afraid, though, that customers would solely need a chassis and four wheels to take them from point A to B.

he points out. No wonder they work together with Mono Group (find their story here) that, in fact, puts its luxury interior portfolio on display in form of a Land Rover at their site.

Graduate Magnet

The plan is to further deepen relations with higher education institutions. Engineers have the privilege to get great tasks and the chance to grow. They are also engaged in working closely together with the dealership to promote the Land Rover Defender in dedicated events.

“We support sales this way as well. On the other hand, we keep working on gaining visibility for our engineering hub, which is, again, one of JLR’s main innovation centres globally after all,” Mr. Garaba says. And it deserves the lime light with certainty.