Volkswagen Group converts Zwickau factory into EV-only facility

-         Six EVs under VW, Audi and seat will be manufactured from 2021

-         The planned annual capacity of 3.3 lakh units

Last year, Volkswagen Group’s Zwickau facility in Saxony, Germany, rolled out the seventh-generation Golf R Estate. It marked the end of combustion engine manufacturing at the facility as the German carmaker has now decided to produce only electric vehicles from the plant. From 2021, six pure electric vehicles from Volkswagen, Audi and Seat are proposed to be produced in Zwickau.

The first electric vehicle will be produced at the end of this year. Alongside the ID.4, an electric SUV from Audi will commence production at the plant. Series production of the ID.3 has already commenced at the other plant in West Saxony. The Volkswagen Group has invested a conversion amount to around 1.2 billion Euros for the new MEB platform integration. The 8,000 employees at the plant are prepared for the production of electric cars and for handling high-voltage systems as part of various training measures. The Zwickau team will complete around 20,500 days of training by the end of 2020. And therefore, the planned annual capacity of the plant is 3.3 lakh units.

The Zwickau facility has been manufacturing combustion engines since 1904. This includes Horch models as well. In May 1990, Volkswagen took over and in the past 30 years, exactly 6,049,207 VW cars like Polo, Golf, Golf Estate, Passat Saloon and Passat Estate have been produced in Zwickau. In addition to the Zwickau plant, Volkswagen has two other locations in Saxony. The Chemnitz engine plant produces, among other things, modern direct petrol injectors. And the e-Golf will be produced at the Transparent Factory in Dresden by end-2020, and from 2021 the ID.3 will be produced there. On the other hand, the bodies for the Lamborghini and Bentley luxury SUVs will continue to be produced in Zwickau.