Samsonite (Luxembourg; www.samsonite.com) has increased its production capacity in Szekszárd / Hungary. The suitcase manufacturer has built a second production facility in the vicinity of its existing plant, which recently started up operation. One-third of the 40,000 m² site is earmarked for European logistics. Together with its plant in Oudenaarde / Belgium, Samsonite now has three production facilities in Europe. A new test laboratory has also been set up in Szekszárd.

Plant manager József Pinczel reports that production capacity in Europe will be increased by 17% with the new expansion – including the company's polycarbonate suitcase series. Samsonite is planning to produce 1.4m suitcases in Hungary in 2018, around 200,000 more than in 2017. The facility was last expanded in 2014 when just under EUR 8m was invested in the production of PC suitcase shells (see Plasteurope.com of 30.03.2016).

The Luxembourg-based company says that it is currently benefiting from the uninterrupted growth of the travel industry. In 2016, sales totalled USD 2.8 bn (around EUR 2.4 bn), representing a currency-adjusted increase of 17.3%. Of this, 11.3% was accounted for by the acquisition of Tumi in August 2016, while the remaining 6% stemmed from organic growth. Operating income increased 10% to USD 331m.