It comes as no surprise Volkswagen is planning a brand-new factory in Germany to compete with Tesla. VW will build a cutting-edge facility near its global headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, and it appears the sole purpose is to produce EVs.
Tesla's upcoming Gigafactory near Berlin, Germany is set to open in the near future. However, in the meantime, the US automaker is cranking out cars at its second automotive factory in Shanghai, China, and exporting them to Europe.
The new VW factory has plans to produce the company's upcoming flagship electric car known as Trinity. The project aims to build a car that offers the best in tech and autonomous driving features. If successful, it could be VW's most compelling Tesla rival going forward.
According to a report by Automotive News, with contributions from Bloomberg and Reuters, the new VW factory will produce some 250,000 EVs per year. In addition, VW brand CEO Ralf Brandstaetter said constructing the brand-new factory will actually be easier than having to retool existing factories to build electric cars. The CEO shared:
"That's why we are planning greenfield construction: efficient and without limitations by existing structures. That way we are gaining time and space to gradually modernize the main factory in a far-reaching way and raise production there, too, to a new level."
Going along with VW Group CEO Herbert Diess' recent comments, the automaker has set a goal to build one Trinity every 10 hours, which is about the same time it will take for Tesla to build a Model 3 saloon at its upcoming Giga Berlin.
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While shareholders have already approved the Trinity, they'll still have to decide on VW's five-year spending plan. This could mean a final decision will be made regarding the potential EV factory as soon as next month. However, some still believe many VW employees and executives aren't on board with Diess' future outlook. Only time will tell.
Source: Automotive News