Samsung SDI, the battery-manufacturing unit of Samsung Group, will build an electric car battery factory in Hungary, securing a key base in Europe for its global expansion.

The battery maker will renovate an existing plasma display panel factory it had run in Goed, 25 kilometers north of Budapest, the company said in Seoul on Tuesday.

Samsung announced the plan at the Hungarian government office with Foreign Minister Peter Szijjarto and other attending officials.

Jeong Seh-woong, executive vice president of automotive business and energy storage systems, said it would start operating the planned factory in the second half of 2018 with an aim of producing electric batteries for 50,000 vehicles a year.

The South Korean company will invest about 400 billion won ($357 million) for the project, he said.

The factory in Hungary is the third production line for Samsung SDI’s electric vehicle battery products.

The company has one in Ulsan in South Korea and another in Xi’an, China.

Samsung SDI expects to save costs and time by renovating the existing plasma display panel factory.

The company also expects to save logistics costs, as factories of European carmakers are located near Hungary.

It will collaborate with SDI Battery Systems, a battery pack business that Samsung acquired last year in Austria, for a streamlined production system for its automotive battery business expansion.

“By collaborating with SDIBS, the company will be able to actively deal with demand from European customers,” said Jeong.

By Cho Chung-un (christory@heraldcorp.com)