The Volkswagen Group is investing approximately 500 million euros (13.2 billion crowns) in its factory in Bratislava in the announced production of a new generation of Škoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat models. The Slovak division of the carmaker announced this on Monday after the transfer of production of the mentioned brands to Slovakia was confirmed on Friday by the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen. In connection with Volkswagen’s investment in Slovakia, it will create 2,000 new jobs, but the production capacity of the Bratislava factory will not increase. Škoda Auto, which belongs to the Volkswagen Group, now produces the Superb model at its plant in Kvasiny in the Rychnov region.
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Production of the Škoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat, which will begin in Slovakia in 2023, will not require the expansion of the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava. The company will use a significant part of these investments to modify the lines in the paint shop and for additional technologies.
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“We are not creating new production capacities. The factory will remain at its original capacity, “said Oliver Grünberg, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Slovakia, when asked by ČTK.
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According to Grünberg, Volkswagen will invest a total of about one billion euros (26.5 billion crowns) in Slovakia in the next period. In addition to investing in the production of Škoda Superb and Volkswagen Passat cars, it will spend additional money on other models.
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The production lines of the Volkswagen plant in Bratislava are currently driven mainly by sport utility vehicles (SUVs) as well as small city cars, including Škoda Citigo electric cars. Last year, Volkswagen produced 377,750 vehicles in Slovakia, more than two-thirds of which were Audi Q7, Audi Q8, Volkswagen Touareg and Porsche Cayenne SUVs. In October this year, the factory launched the production of the Škoda Karoq SUV. Since its entry into Slovakia in 1991, Volkswagen has so far invested over 4.5 billion euros (119 billion crowns) in the country.
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Slovak Minister of Finance Eduard Heger welcomed the new investment of Volkswagen, which has about 12,000 employees in Slovakia. It is one of the largest employers in the country, although last year it reduced the number of employees by about 3,000. “Volkswagen is a pioneer in the automotive industry in Slovakia, it was the first foreign investment in the west,” Heger told a news conference at the Volkswagen plant.
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In the summer, the Slovak government promised to support Volkswagen’s investment, as well as the construction of rental apartments in the vicinity of the Bratislava car factory.
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Volkswagen is one of four carmakers that assemble vehicles in the country below the Tatras. At the time of economic growth before the outbreak of the covid-19 pandemic, the automotive industry was the main engine of the Slovak economy, which last year maintained its position as the largest car manufacturer per capita.
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There was speculation about the transfer of production of Superb cars in 2017 and 2018. The Volkswagen Group then decided to move the production of cars of the Passat family, to which the Superb also belongs, to Kvasin in the Rychnov region. Subsequently, there was talk that Superb and Passat would be produced in the group’s brand new factory in Turkey. In the end, however, Volkswagen withdrew from these plans.
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