Volkswagen prepares to invest 1 billion euros ($1.18 billion) in its Slovak plant, including 500 million euros for producing next-generation Passat and Skoda Superb models, VW Slovakia Chairman Oliver Gruenberg said on Monday.
The automaker’s investment will be in projects throughout the model range made in Slovakia and will create 2,000 jobs in the future, personnel chief Sebastian Krapoth said.
The auto industry, led by Volkswagen and three other automakers, is the backbone of Slovakia’s manufacturing and export sectors.
Skoda had declared on Friday that production of its higher-end model, Superb, would be shifted to Slovakia. The Superb and Passat share the same platform and many components.
That followed the cancellation of plans to source production in Turkey. It also upset unions at Volkswagen’s Czech unit, Skoda Auto, home to the Superb brand during the last two decades.
“Total investments for Bratislava are being planned in the range of 1 billion euros,” said Gruenberg in a news conference. “It is an investment across the entire model range at Volkswagen Slovakia.”
He said the plan will not add total production capacity at the plant, which made 377,750 cars in 2019. The plant, which mainly produced top-end models such as the Audi Q7 and Porsche Cayenne, exports over 99% of its output.
