The Autoeuropa plant in Palmela will produce a new Volkswagen model, which will hit the market in 2026, management announced to employees over the weekend.
In an interview with the newspaper Público, the general manager, Thomas Hegel Gunther, explained that production of this new vehicle, a hybrid, will start in 2025.
“Our future plan includes a new vehicle, which will be launched at the end of 2025. It will be a vehicle that we will produce here, electrified. It will be a hybrid and I think it will have great chances to be very successful,” said the manager .
When asked if this production will complement production of the T-Roc model in the current lines or if lines will be added to guarantee the two models, Gunther replied: “The new model will extend production of the current model. We will adjust things in the factory, with new investments”.
As for whether this decision means that the current T-Roc will be produced elsewhere, the manager recalled that this model is currently produced in Portugal and China and that Autoeuropa will only produce the new model.
Público also writes that it is not clear whether it will be a hybrid version (combustion engine plus electric battery) of the only model the unit produces – the T-Roc -, or whether it will be a different one, explaining that the brand the trade name ID.Roc, which led to speculation about an all-electric successor, something the brand does not confirm.
Last month, workers at the Palmela plant demanded the adoption of measures to deal with “labour shortages and overloading of production lines,” with the administration guaranteeing it will find a way to solve these problems.
Asked by Púbico, the manager explained: “We have a different situation than last year. [modelos] Volkswagen Sharan and the Seat Alambra and we managed to focus 100% on producing the T-Roc,” adding: “Producing a T-Roc takes about 40% less time than a Sharan” .
“As a result, it’s normal to reassign tasks on the production line. That’s what happened, involving many employees,” he said.
The manager added that the current situation “allows us to produce more [automóveis] T-Roc with the same team” and insisted: “It is important that we manage to keep the four teams and the 5,000 people we have in our factory”.
Born in Brazil but with German roots, the manager arrived in Portugal at the end of 2021, when Autoeuropa turned 30. Last year, in front of the workers, he assumed in the latest company agreement that he would work to guarantee a new model for the Portuguese factory.
The German brand will spend 600 million on the new model, modernization and decarbonization. That is 20% more than the 500 million announced a year and a half ago.
At the end of the current decade, it will be necessary to decide where to make new investments for new models. Spain already got electric cars and a battery factory, but Gunther guarantees that Portugal will remain relevant.
“We will invest what is necessary and what we think is right to continue doing what we do best: producing cars in Portugal,” he guaranteed.
Source: DN
