The plant urgently needs new models in order to be able to utilize the production capacity in the future.
(Photo: imago images/Jan Huebner)
Dusseldorf The Volkswagen main plant in Wolfsburg is to get an additional electric SUV. That’s what VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer said on Wednesday at a works meeting of the automaker. “We are working intensively with the works council to bring another electric model to Wolfsburg – a high-volume one in the booming SUV segment,” said Schäfer. The manager thus confirmed a Handelsblatt report from Monday.
The new additional electric SUV is intended to ensure utilization of vehicle production at the automaker’s headquarters. Originally, a new generation of electric models, referred to internally as “Trinity”, was to be produced here from 2026 onwards.
However, because the new software required for this will not be ready in time, the project will probably have to be pushed back by two years. Volkswagen wants to close the resulting production gap with the new electric SUV.
Volkswagen takes Skoda as a role model
With the ID.4, Volkswagen already has its own mid-range SUV in its range. The new additional model will probably be slightly smaller and located below the ID.4.
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The VW core brand is based on the Czech sister Skoda, which is also planning several SUVs of different sizes in its model portfolio. VW brand boss Schäfer only switched from Skoda to Wolfsburg in the spring.
>> Read about this: Skoda is switching to electric drive much faster – with three other models
Due to the ongoing supply crisis for semiconductors, the main plant is only slightly utilized this year. Only around 400,000 vehicles were produced there last year. As it is said in business circles, VW will again be well below this mark in the current year. Under normal conditions, the main plant could produce more than 800,000 cars a year.
So far, only combustion models such as the Golf and the Tiguan have been produced in Wolfsburg. A gradual switch to electric models should guarantee better utilization again in the future.
Before the electric SUV that has now been announced, VW is starting production of the ID.3 e-model in Wolfsburg, which has so far only rolled off the assembly lines in Zwickau. First of all, assembly from prefabricated parts will start in the coming year, and a complete ID.3 production is to be set up by 2025. Volkswagen is investing almost half a billion euros in this.
Volkswagen could do without the new plant
It is still unclear in the group whether a completely new car factory will be built in the Warmenau district in the north of Wolfsburg for the postponed Trinity project for more than two billion euros. The new plant was one of the flagship projects of the CEO Herbert Diess, who was replaced in the summer. His successor Oliver Blume no longer necessarily adheres to it. The Trinity models could also be built in the main factory.
The day before, brand boss Schäfer said at a discussion event that the chances were “50 to 50” that the new factory would still be built. A decision will probably be made in January.
The current order backlog at Volkswagen is still positive. According to Schäfer, the manufacturer currently has 650,000 orders on its books. “More than ever,” said the manager. Due to a lack of semiconductors, VW can only gradually process these orders. Due to the impending slowdown in the economy, VW, like most other car manufacturers, is preparing for the fact that there could be significantly fewer orders in 2023.
More: CEO Oliver Blume wants to reorganize Volkswagen.