Last December, the German business group announced a plan to manufacture half a million electric vehicles at the Martorell and Landaben factories, but this forecast is subject to various conditions.
Although there is still room for maneuver, since the plan of the VAG Group To manufacture electric cars, production is expected to begin in 2025, the truth is that the objectives set by the manufacturer the Government of Spain are far from being met.
Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen, confirmed that the brand would focus on the production of electric vehicles, but that this would depend on the sale fee of this type of cars in Spain will reach 10% of the total, as well as 28,000 recharging points in our country.
Of the 5,000 million budgeted, 2,400 million should go to the renovation of the Martorell plant
According to data recently published by ANFAC, in 2021 of the 859,477 units registered, only 7.8% of the vehicles were electric or plug-in hybrids. Likewise, at this time the number of charging points is approximately 8,000 units.
Figures all of which make the VAG Group’s investment in the factories of Martorell (Barcelona) and Landaben (Navarra) They are in danger, because Volkswagen is not willing to spend 5000 million euros in a market that does not respond to the bet that in other European countries is being satisfactory.
To the tail of Europe
Of the 5 billion budgeted2.4 billion should go to the renovation of the Martorell plant and the satellite facilities where electric motors will be manufactured, also located in the province of Barcelona.
In Landaben the investment would be lower, since it is a recently renovated plant It is worth noting that Seat Martorell has the capacity to produce in the order of 500,000 vehicles per year, while Landaben can reach 350,000 units.
The reality of the Spanish market is that it is only surpassed by Germany, France and Italy With regard to global figures in the European Union, the data does not accompany when they are limited to sustainable mobility, that is, electric vehicles and plug-in hybrids.
“We are only above Greece; our market is close to 5% if we include plug-in hybrids, while in other countries it is around 80% as in Norway or 10% in the European average, ”said Wayne Griffiths, SEAT president last May.
With the aim of promoting electric mobility, the Government of Spain has launched the Plan MOVES III with an initial budget of 400 million expandable to 800 million. What’s more, The PERTE, which will consist of 3 billion euros, has been approved. Will it be enough to convince Volkswagen that it should invest in production in Spain?