As a response to Tesla, Volkswagen announced the construction of a new two-billion-euro factory on the same day the American automaker received the green light to wrap up its Grunheide plant near Berlin. After producing the Beetle and the Golf, the historic Wolfsburg headquarters should deliver the future all-electric Trinity models from the world’s second-largest manufacturer within four years.
The future factory will begin to emerge from the ground in the spring of 2023 in the Warmenau district of Wolfsburg, to be completed in 2026. At cruising speed, the chains should then produce up to 250,000 models per year.
Announced as the new generation Volkswagen, the future Trinity will not only have to be quickly rechargeable but also allow autonomous driving, known as level four, on the highway.
The much-discussed decision to build an ex nihilo factory next to the current buildings will keep production of combustion vehicles such as the Tiguan and Tayron, as well as the upgrade of the Golf . Eventually, more than 750,000 vehicles in total will come out in the shade of the historic chimneys of the site, installed under the Nazi regime along a canal.
union victory
This decision is also a victory for the house unions after heated debates on underutilized plant capacity due to semiconductor shortages. Works council president Daniela Cavallo hailed this “historic turning point” which reinforces the importance of Volkswagen’s historic stronghold.
The pressure had mounted since the boss of the group, Herbert Diess, had mentioned the elimination of 30,000 jobs. In the end, there should be no social plan and 5,000 people are announced on the new site, including possible transfers among the 13,000 employees of the current factory.
Synchronization between the two sites should be facilitated by standardizing the future automotive SSP platform and reducing the number of possible variations. This simplification is also designed to allow Volkswagen to catch up with the current tempo of Tesla, which produces a model in ten hours against twenty in Wolfsburg.