As Korean battery makers deepen their manufacturing footprint in Europe, the challenge is no longer limited to building factories and securing customers. Maintaining a long-term presence increasingly requires companies to become part of the communities where those factories operate.

SK On’s experience in Hungary offers a glimpse of that transition.

The South Korean battery maker recently received the Outstanding Community Engagement Award at the second CSR Awards for Korean Companies in Hungary, marking its second consecutive recognition at the event.

On the surface, the award recognizes activities ranging from blood donations and support for vulnerable groups to vocational education and a music festival for people with developmental disabilities. Behind those programs, however, lies a broader issue facing global battery manufacturers: how to turn large-scale foreign investment into a sustainable local presence.

For SK On, Hungary is no longer simply an overseas manufacturing location. With three plants and 47.5GWh of annual production capacity, the country has become a strategic base for its European business.

Battery factories need more than capital

Battery manufacturing is unusually dependent on local conditions.

Factories require large investments, skilled workers, infrastructure and stable relationships with local governments and communities. Once built, they are expected to operate for years, often with additional investment following the initial project.

That makes the relationship between a battery company and its host community different from that of an exporter simply selling products into a foreign market.

SK On began commercial production in Komárom in 2020. It now operates the 7.5GWh Komárom Plant 1, the 10GWh Komárom Plant 2 and the 30GWh Iváncsa plant.

Its manufacturing presence has therefore expanded from a single production site into a sizable industrial footprint.

The company’s community programs have developed alongside that expansion.

SK On’s European subsidiary supports public-interest foundations and vulnerable residents in Komárom and Iváncsa, while employees participate in regular blood donations and plogging activities.

More than 600 employees have taken part in blood donations since 2021, leading to recognition from the Hungarian Red Cross in Komárom-Esztergom County in 2024.

These programs may appear separate from battery production, but for a manufacturer with a long-term physical presence, community relations can become part of the environment in which the business operates.

Education connects CSR with the industrial base

One of the more strategically relevant elements of SK On’s local activities is vocational education.

About 800 local students have completed the company’s battery industry training programs.

This is where corporate social responsibility and industrial strategy begin to overlap.

Europe’s battery industry needs workers familiar with increasingly sophisticated manufacturing processes. For companies operating large production facilities, developing local talent can reduce the distance between investment and the surrounding labor market.

Students gain exposure to an emerging industry, while manufacturers help broaden the pool of potential skilled workers.

Rather than treating education simply as a donation program, this type of initiative can create a connection between the company’s growth and the economic opportunities available to people living around its factories.

For foreign manufacturers seeking to establish themselves over the long term, that connection can matter as much as the size of the initial investment.

GMF shows a different side of localization

SK On’s Great Music Festival, or GMF, represents another approach.

Originally launched and sponsored by parent company SK Innovation in Korea, the festival provides musicians with developmental disabilities with opportunities to perform publicly.

SK Innovation and SK On established a partnership with Hungarian organization A zene mindenkié in 2023 before holding the first Hungarian GMF in 2024.

A second event followed in 2025 with more than 200 participants and guests, including Hungarian government officials. A third festival is scheduled for late November this year.

What distinguishes the program is continuity.

Multinational companies often introduce CSR programs developed at headquarters into overseas markets. Such programs can struggle to gain relevance if they remain disconnected from local institutions.

In Hungary, SK On has worked with a local organization and repeated the program over multiple years. That gradually shifts the initiative from a corporate event toward a recurring local partnership.

A road named SK reflects the changing relationship

There are also visible signs of SK On’s growing presence.

In 2021, the company received a major corporate award from Komárom-Esztergom County. Three years later, a road connecting its Iváncsa plant with an existing highway was named “SK út,” or SK Road.

The symbolism is difficult to miss.

When a foreign company’s name becomes part of local infrastructure, its relationship with the region has moved beyond a conventional investor-host arrangement.

That does not eliminate the challenges that accompany large industrial projects. Battery plants can raise questions about environmental management, infrastructure, labor and their impact on surrounding communities.

It does mean that maintaining dialogue with those communities becomes increasingly important as investment grows.

From manufacturing localization to social localization

SK On’s Hungary strategy can therefore be viewed in two stages.

The first was manufacturing localization: building factories, establishing production capacity and creating a European supply base.

The second is increasingly social localization: developing local workers, working with community organizations and establishing relationships that extend beyond employment and tax contributions.

This distinction is becoming more important as Korean battery companies expand globally.

The first wave of overseas battery investment was largely measured in gigawatt-hours, capital expenditure and factory construction schedules. The next phase is likely to be judged partly by whether those factories can operate as stable members of their local economies for decades.

SK On’s 47.5GWh Hungarian production base already gives the country an important role in its European strategy. The company’s recent CSR recognition suggests that its definition of localization is widening as well.

For global manufacturers, building a factory can establish production capacity. Building local trust may determine how durable that investment ultimately becomes.