(Frankfurt) German car giant Volkswagen announced on Thursday the production, from 2026, of an electric SUV model at its historic factory in Wolsburg which worried about its future after the postponement of a major investment project .
“From 2026, our flagship brand will have a new electric model […] And it is we, here in Wolfsburg, who will develop and build this new vehicle, ”welcomed Daniela Cavallo, the president of the Volkswagen works council which held its general meeting of staff on Thursday.
The Wolfsburg plant, the largest of the group, which is headquartered in this city in northern Germany, will manufacture the all-electric version of the Tiguan compact SUV.
The announcement was eagerly awaited by employees who were worried about the plant’s prospects as part of Volkswagen’s electric transition.
The site, where the automotive giant has been established since 1938, must certainly already produce the first electric cars of the ID.3 model by next year, and be totally dedicated to it “from 2024”, but its medium-term future was uncertain since new CEO Oliver Blume announced the postponement of development of the Trinity sedan, which the plant was to produce, due to software issues.
“The production of the Trinity planned in Wolfsburg will be postponed and we have now filled the resulting void in 2026,” said Mr.me Cavallo.
This ultra-modern sedan project with unique integrated software, specific to the Volkswagen group, should start “a little later”, she assured.
In front of Chancellor Olaf Scholz, who attended the general meeting, Oliver Blume recalled that electromobility remained “a priority”, even if he seemed less in a hurry than his predecessor to compete with the American competitor Tesla, ahead in the fields electrical and software.
He assured that 11% of Volkswagen vehicles delivered worldwide this year will be electric models.
However, he warned about the price of electricity for the competitiveness of the automotive industry.
“A penny more per kilowatt hour would represent a difference of 100 million euros per year in our battery factories”, he cited as an example as Europe faces soaring costs of energy.
Oliver Blume, who visited China last month, sees no alternative to Volkswagen’s continued development in this market, the most important of the group.
“This country is a technology engine for the global automotive sector […] It also guarantees jobs in Germany,” he said amid growing criticism of Germany’s dependence on China, its biggest trading partner.