Volkswagen will probably build a new factory in the vicinity of the Wolfsburg parent plant for the production of electric cars.

“A decision has not yet been made, but there is a lot to be said for it,” said the CEO of the VW brand, Ralf Brandstätter, on Tuesday in Wolfsburg.

At the beginning of December, the Group's supervisory board plans to decide on the billions in investments by Volkswagen over the next few years.

The next generation of semi-autonomous electric cars called Trinity will roll off the assembly line at the new plant from 2026 onwards.

In the existing plant structures, while production of the combustion models is ongoing, it is not possible to build structures that are as efficient and competitive as, for example, the American competitor Tesla.

Carsten Germis

Business correspondent in Hamburg.

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It is therefore considered to build a new, pure production unit on the green field. Later - when the demand for the successful models such as Tiguan and Golf decreases due to the withdrawal from combustion technology - according to the plans, another production line for electric cars will come at the main plant after 2030. For the combustion engine, successor models are planned for 2023, which are also to be built in Wolfsburg. The reconstruction of the plant with its four production lines is planned while the plant is still in operation.

“With the new factory, we can build up capacities without interfering with ongoing production,” said Brandstätter.

According to reports, the new plant unit will produce around 250,000 Trinity a year.

VW would have to buy around four square kilometers of space in the surrounding area, around half of which would go to the production facility.

For the main plant, it would be the first step towards electromobility in Wolfsburg.

"We have a good team that has a lot of experience building new factories," said Brandstätter.

Power struggle between CEO and works council

The first speculations that VW could build a new factory on the green field for the Trinity were heard in Wolfsburg almost three weeks ago. For months now, fear has been spreading in the main plant of being left behind when the transition to electromobility takes place. After CEO Herbert Diess reportedly spoke of a possible reduction of 30,000 jobs in internal rounds, the conflict with the works council has come to a head again. Even a fall of Diess was considered possible again in the power struggle between the CEO and the works council, which was once again fought out on the open stage in VW tradition, despite his contract extension that was decided only a few months ago.

In fact, the situation at the Wolfsburg parent plant is dramatic. In the years before Corona, there was still talk of around a million cars that should be produced in the main plant. In the so-called future pact of the works council and management, at least 820,000 cars were planned at the end of 2016. "Even after adjusting for the current negative factors of corona and the lack of semiconductors, we are a long way from these mutually agreed plans," says works council chairman Daniela Cavallo. Last year, just under 500,000 cars were built in Wolfsburg, this year the arrow points further down. The workforce is insecure, they “don't know about such long periods of short-time work,” says Cavallo.

Nevertheless, this remains hard. “We must finally make Wolfsburg fit for the future,” he said recently at a meeting with managers. Again he called the planned factory of the American competitor as the benchmark for the construction of electric cars. In the Tesla plant near Berlin, electric cars are to be built in ten hours. This is significantly faster and more efficient than at the VW plant in Zwickau, Saxony, where the ID. 3 and the ID. 4 is used three times as long. This is one of the reasons why the decision of the Supervisory Board is likely to result in building a completely new factory in Wolfsburg for the next generation of electric, semi-autonomous cars. As can be heard, VW should then also manage the ten hours.The new electric cars should have a common platform and significantly fewer model variants.

Even if the works council was involved in the deliberations on Brandstätter's plans for a 2030 target for the main plant and the brand boss sees the new factory as a sign of the company's strength, a new factory on the greenfield should only concern the works council about capacity problems not solve. "It can already be seen from the development of the figures that the Trinity will not be sufficient to load the plant," Cavallo's deputy Gerardo Scarpino said in October. The Trinity is scheduled to roll off the assembly line in the new factory from 2026, but the works council wants the main plant to enter electromobility more quickly during the planning round in December. As can be heard, there are also discussions going on. Solutions with a faster transformation to electromobility for around 14000 employees in production in Wolfsburg would also have to be economical. CEO Diess has in the debate about the future of

Automobile manufacturing in Germany is particularly keen to “raise the location to a new competitive level” with Trinity.

Diess also tried on Tuesday to take away the employees' fears.

“Fear is a bad advisor.

Nobody should be afraid, ”he said in a video interview published on the VW employee portal and referred to the safeguarding of jobs until 2020.

“We are discussing and speaking with the works council about a future plan for Wolfsburg.

What does Wolfsburg have to look like in 2030, 2035 so that it is future-proof? "