Seat will also build a battery assembly plant at its Martorell factory near Barcelona. As the Spanish Volkswagen brand officially announces, an additional 300 million euros will be invested to build said battery assembly plant on an area of 64,000 square metres at the Martorell plant.
This means that in future battery packs for car production will also be manufactured in the Spanish vehicle plant. The cells are to come from the Volkswagen battery factory in Sagunt near Valencia, the construction of which started in March. According to the press release, battery assembly in Martorell will be adjacent to workshop 10, “where we will manufacture some of the Volkswagen Group’s electric cars, including the CUPRA Raval”. This is intended to optimise logistical processes and reduce the ecological footprint.
Seat does not give any details on the production capacity of the new battery assembly in the announcement. Apart from the investment of 300 million euros, only 400 direct and 100 indirect jobs are mentioned that are to be created by the project. Volkswagen still has a vehicle plant in Pamplona, Spain, where electric cars will also be built in the future. The Cupra Raval and VW ID.2 small cars are to be built in Martorell, and the VW ID.2 X crossover variants and a corresponding Skoda model are to come off the production line in Pamplona. It is currently not known whether battery packs will only be assembled in Martorell for the company’s own use or whether production in Pamplona will also be supplied.
“Construction will begin in the coming weeks and is scheduled for completion in 2025. This facility is fundamental for our company and will also provide the impulse to obtain a second platform in Martorell,” said Wayne Griffiths, CEO of Seat and Cupra. “This is a key moment for our industry. SEAT S.A. and the Volkswagen Group are committing major resources to achieving sustainable mobility. And to continue advancing our ambition to turn Spain into a hub for electric mobility in Europe.”
Seat had announced in February that it would invest three billion euros in the conversion of its Martorell plant for the production of small electric cars. Now another 300 million euros are being added for battery assembly. Seat has applied for additional government funding for this under the Perte programme.
The exact timetable for how the respective production start-ups will be coordinated is still open: In Sagunt, north of Valencia, the VW subsidiary PowerCo will manufacture the VW Group’s unit cell from 2026, according to information from the start of construction. Seat CEO Griffiths clearly states in the current communication that the construction of the battery assembly in Martorell is to be completed in 2025 – however, he does not mention a planned start of production.
Keyword: VW invests 300 million euros in battery assembly at Seat