TOP GEAR PERFORMER Established in 1996, LuK Savaria Kuplunggyártó Kft in Hungary is the biggest clutch and clutch disc manufacturer within the internationally operating Schaeffler Group. The production site is located in Szombathely, near the Austrian border, and was initially set up as an assembly plant to serve customers in Hungary. Today the company offers a wide range of products and covers almost a third of the group’s production in the clutch segment. Edina Beale reports.
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he Schaeffler Group is renowned for its three main brands – LuK serves the automotive industry, whilst INA and FAG are industrial brands – and operates a worldwide network with 78,000 employees. In Hungary the group operates three sites: LuK Savaria Kuplunggyártó Kft produces LuK clutches in Szombathely; FAG bearings are manufactured in Debrecen whilst INA and FAG products are sold through the Budapest sales office.
LuK Savaria Kuplunggyártó Kft began production in November 1997 on a brand new 7500m2 manufacturing site in Szombathely. The company has gradually extended its site since then, and now operates on a 78,000m2 production facility and office area. The Szombathely plant currently employs 2400 people, which makes it the largest plant besides the Schaeffler headquarters in Herzogenau-
rach, Germany, which employs 4600 staff. The company achieved a turnover of €540 million last year.
Increasing product variety Serving only the automotive sector, LuK Savaria’s customers are all major OEMs. The company mainly supplies clutches and clutch discs for manual transmission, but also builds clutches for the VW DSG system
