According to VW Group boss Herbert Diess, his company will invest heavily in its plant in Bratislava, Slovakia, as opposed to opening a brand new location in Turkey.
Diess spoke with Automobilwoche recently, confirming that VW has had to reassess its capacity requirements because of the pandemic, and ultimately decided that it doesn’t need an additional plant, reports Autonews Europe.
The German carmaker will instead go on to build a new assembly line, as well as a new body shop as part of its expansion in Slovakia, where it builds most of its premium SUVs.
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In fact, the VW Touareg, Audi Q7, Audi Q8 and Porsche Cayenne are all built in Bratislava, alongside the VW Up, Skoda Citigo and SEAT Mii minicars, as well as bodies for the Bentley Bentayga, that is before those are shipped to Crewe in the UK.
Initially, VW wanted to open a plant in Turkey near Izmir in order to build the next-generation VW Passat and Skoda Superb, come 2022. However, both models will now be built in Slovakia. As for how this decision might affect the carmaker’s sales in Turkey, Diess stated that there will definitely be an impact.
“It remains a disadvantage that we cannot better develop the market there via a plant in Turkey,” he said during the interview.
The VW Group’s Bratislava plant is a multiple-time winner of the Occupational Safety Trophy, meaning it already has a rich history of having high safety standards.
