Published 12/13/2018 11:23:12 PM
MADRID, 13 Dec. (EUROPA PRESS) –
Seat has been commissioned by the Volkswagen Group to develop a platform for a small electric car that can be used for all brands of the German automobile consortium.
The management of the German corporation announced this project of the Spanish firm at the meeting of the global company committee that took place last week in Wolfsburg (Germany), according to a statement from the unions UGT and CC.OO. sent to the workers of the company consulted by Europa Press.
The new platform that will develop Seat receives the internal denomination of Small BEV (small electric car) and is destined to the mobility business, and is the basis from which the smallest electric car models of all the brands of the group.
UGT and CC.OO. have highlighted that the Spanish brand “alone” has achieved the allocation of the development of the platform (not the manufacture) of the platform in the new production planning for the next five years, according to the website Global Car.
“UGT and CC.OO. requested in the meeting the need to saturate the production of the Martorell plant (Barcelona) with new allocations of segment A or greater, and in the medium term, to develop and manufacture new technologies such as electric cars and batteries in the plant (components) of El Prat (Barcelona), as the best guarantee of the defense of current and future employment of the improvement of working conditions, “reads the letter.
In this sense, the trade unions are committed to a round table of social dialogue between the Government, trade unions and employers to approve and develop an industrial plan with public and private commitments in the form of investments, which transform the industrial fabric of Spain and create infrastructure necessary to attract investments in new technologies, promoting public professional training to recycle and qualify the current workers and train those of the future.
For its part, Seat sources told Europa Press that the Spanish manufacturer will announce its future plans “in due course”.
JAC VOLKSWAGEN
On the other hand, Seat, Volkswagen Group China and JAC also signed an agreement last November whereby the three companies will take advantage of their technology and product strength to develop a platform for electric vehicles.
Thus, JAC Volkswagen will launch the Seat brand in China in 2021 and will work together to electrify vehicles of the Spanish firm.
For its part, the Volkswagen automobile consortium has expanded from 10 to 15 million vehicles the production forecast of the first wave of electrified vehicles based on the modular MEB platform, which will last between 2019 and the middle of the next decade.
Thus, at the end of next year the production of the electric ID model will begin, based on the MEB platform, which will mean the ‘kick-off’ of the consortium’s offensive in this segment, in which it plans to manufacture up to 15 million units with this platform until the middle of the next decade.
In this line, the Volkswagen brand works with the aim of reaching a volume of sales of one million electric vehicles a year worldwide, “at the latest”, for the year 2025.
The Volkswagen group plans to invest 44,000 million euros in electromobility, autonomous driving, new mobility services and autonomous driving in vehicles and their plants until 2023. As part of this amount, 11,000 million euros will correspond to the Volkswagen brand, which will allocate 9,000 million of the total amount to the ID family.