The car factories belonging to the German concern Volkswagen in the city of Martorell (Catalonia) and in Pamplona (Navarra) will undergo reconstruction and from 2025 will produce up to 800 thousand relatively inexpensive electric vehicles for the European and world market annually. Batteries for them and for cars made in other countries will be manufactured in a giant new plant to be built in Sagunto (Valencia).
This is stated in a statement released on Wednesday, November 9, by Wayne Griffiths, president of the Spanish company Seat, which is part of the Volkswagen Group. Griffiths called the agreements just reached with the Spanish government on financing the project “historic” because they will turn the country “into the largest European center for the production of electric vehicles” and environmentally friendly transport “make it accessible to most Europeans.” Seat has historically been the flagship of the Spanish automotive industry.
Difficult negotiations
According to the newspaper El Pais, which is close to the Spanish government, the agreements between the German automaker and the Spanish authorities were preceded by “difficult negotiations” on financing the project, the total cost of which will be about 10 billion euros.
The project, proposed several years ago, was in danger of failure for a long time. In the end, the management of the Volkswagen Group agreed to the initial subsidies of 397.3 million euros proposed by the Spanish authorities, which had previously been assessed by the concern as insufficient, given the total amount of capital investments.
The agreed amount is allocated by the Spanish government from funds provided by the European Union for the modernization of Spanish industry in the framework of the so-called “Strategic projects for the recovery and renewal of the economy” affected by the crisis associated with the pandemic. In addition, a new source of EU subsidies for the Spanish auto industry will open from 2023, and Madrid will be able to allocate additional funds to the Volkswagen Group, the amount of which has not yet been disclosed.
Help from the regions
The Spanish regions will also provide all possible assistance to Volkswagen in financing the project, in which the production of electric cars and batteries for them will be established. The leaders of the three provinces – Catalonia, Valencia and Navarre – extremely interested in developing their production and creating new jobs, took part in government negotiations with the German auto giant.
For example, Valencia, where a battery plant is to be built, will prepare at its own expense all the necessary infrastructure for construction. 100 million euros have already been allocated for these purposes. In general, the plant, which will employ 3,000 workers, will cost Volkswagen 3 billion euros. The remaining 7 billion allocated by the concern will go to the modernization of production in Navarre and Catalonia.
Promising models
In Spain, as DW explained in the Barcelona office of Seat, three models of B-class electric vehicles will be produced. A car called CUPRA UrbanRebel Concept worth up to 25,000 euros will be assembled in Martorel. The production of the Skoda electric car will also be launched there, the name of which has not yet been given – it is only said that it will resemble the Skoda Fabia and cost approximately 20 thousand euros. A similar cost model Volkswagen ID.1 will be produced in Pamplona. Its dimensions are the same as those of the famous Polo.
Promising models, the Seat office emphasized, will be significantly cheaper than the compact Volkswagen ID.3, which went on sale in 2020 and costs from 35,000 euros. It is believed that Seat will become the leader in the concern in terms of the production of cars of the Small BEV (Battery Electric Vehicle) project.
According to Wayne Griffiths, quoted in the already mentioned statement, “thanks to cars made in Spain, it will be possible to democratize the access of Europeans to environmentally friendly transport.” The concern intends to completely eliminate harmful emissions into the atmosphere from its cars by 2050.
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