The news that Daimler was considering an eastern European location for a new car factory began to leak out in January, with the frontrunners rumoured to be in Romania and Poland. Unable to contain their excitement, the candidate cities were busy leaking news of the deal to their local media.
At first, Hungary, the eventual winner, was not even on the German carmaker’s shortlist of four countries. Although Audi has been present in western Hungary since the 1990s, cumulatively investing some €2bn ($2.7bn), the central European state appeared to have been edged out by other countries in the region that could offer cheaper labour.
