No new Volkswagen electric car factories in Europe

The car manufacturer VW has ultimately abandoned plans to build a new factory for the "Trinity" vehicle project in the Warmenau district of Wolfsburg. In a conversation with the consulting firm Porsche Consulting, the CFO explained the company's operational business. Currently, the business with combustion engine vehicles is financing the group's transformation.

"We are financing the ramp-up of activities in the electric sector with the good returns from the combustion engine business. VW is pursuing the strategy of converting factory by factory," said Antlitz.

The CFO rules out the construction of an electric car factory on a greenfield site in Europe, which means the end of all considerations for an additional factory at the headquarters in Wolfsburg. Instead, the existing main plant at the Mittelland Canal is likely to be converted for the "Trinity" in the long term.

"So we will not build new electric factories in Europe, but transform the existing ones," Antlitz explains.

For the "Trinity" project initiated under Blume's predecessor Herbert Diess, VW initially expected investments of around two billion euros. The construction start was originally targeted for early 2023. CEO Oliver Blume and VW brand chief Thomas Schäfer have now discarded the plans to use a coupe-like sedan for "Trinity" and instead plan a crossover with SUV features. With a crossover, VW hopes for significantly higher margins.