Volkswagen plans to produce a total of three million fully electric small cars at its Spanish plants in Martorell and Pamplona between 2025 and 2030. The total number is likely to be even higher with the entry-level model announced for 2027 – even though it may not be built in Spain.
This was announced by Seat at its annual press conference. Seat is investing three billion euros in the conversion of its Martorell plant near Barcelona in order to start production there in 2025 of the VW ID.2 recently presented as a concept and the Cupra offshoot, which will presumably be called Raval. As reported, the Pamplona plant will probably build the VW ID.2 X crossover variant as well as the offshoot for Skoda, which is to be called Elroq.
VW brand boss Thomas Schäfer had already stated in a recent interview that they were aiming for annual sales of 100,000 units per model. However, it would take 7.5 years to reach the three million vehicles now mentioned with a total of 400,000 units per year from the two Spanish plants. Assuming a production start at the end of 2025/beginning of 2026, the three-million mark would not be reached until 2033.
Since it is rather unlikely that the sales planning for small electric cars has changed so fundamentally in the few days since Schäfer’s statement, it stands to reason that Schäfer was probably referring to initial sales when he stated 100,000 vehicles per year and model, and that the volume will increase over the years to reach the three-million target in 2030. It is not known how sales will be distributed among the model series and the plants in Martorell (small cars) and Pamplona (SUVs).
Next Cupra BEV to come in 2024 – in China
However, the total sales of small electric cars by 2030 in the VW Group are likely to be somewhat higher than the three million units from the Spanish plants. VW is also planning an even cheaper electric vehicle model for less than 20,000 euros by 2027 at the latest. In the aforementioned interview, brand boss Schäfer left open whether the model, possibly called ID.1, would be built in Europe or whether it would come off the production line in other plants for cost reasons.
A few days ago, Volkswagen gave the official go-ahead for the construction of the second battery cell factory of its subsidiary PowerCo. As Seat now writes, the brand is also working on an assembly plant for battery packs and a second vehicle platform for Martorell. The Cupra brand is initially responsible for electrification at Seat. Cupra will launch its second BEV model after the Born in 2024 with the MEB model Tavascan, which will be produced in China. This will be followed in 2025 by the Cupra Raval electric small car produced in Spain.
Seat itself is planning its own BEV model in 2026 at the earliest, as Autocar reports with reference to CEO Wayne Griffiths. Griffiths also told the portal that Cupra is planning larger electric models based on the future Group platform SSP for the North American market towards the end of this decade.
The annual press conference was, of course, also about the annual report. In 2022, Seat S.A. (which includes the two brands Seat and Cupra) increased sales by 14 per cent to 10.5 billion euros. After taxes, there was a profit of 68 million euros, after a loss of 256 million euros in the previous year. Griffiths stated in the press release that, among other things, “prioritizing Cupra” was key. “We are at the start of a crucial year in SEAT S.A.’s history. We know the future is electric and we have a clear vision and motivated team determined to make this transition. If 2022 was the kickoff of our transformation, 2023 will be the year of its acceleration,” says the CEO.
Keyword: VW wants to produce over 3 million small EVs by 2030