In 2026, the first cars will be assembled.
Volvo was one of the first automakers in the world to announce the gradual retirement of the combustion engine. This culminated with the Swedish marque becoming purely electric at end of this decade. Geely, a Geely-owned firm, is investing EUR1.2 billion ($1.25B), in a new factory to only assemble EVs. The third European plant of the firm will be in Slovakia’s eastern part, near Kosice.
The facility, which is carbon neutral, will be built starting next year. Construction is expected to begin in 2013. Although equipment and production lines will be added in 2024 to the facility, series production of customer cars won’t begin until 2026. Production will reach full capacity once it is fully operational. The maximum annual production of the plant will be 250,000 units.
Volvo says these models will be the “next generation, pure electric”, without going into detail. The use of the term “pure” is likely to mean that they will ride on an EV platform. The C40 Recharge and XC40 models are derived from a platform that was originally designed for cars with combustion engines.
This manufacturing facility will be Volvo’s first European location in approximately six decades. It was inaugurated in 1964 at Torslanda and 1965 at Ghent. The Old Continent’s current manufacturing footprint produces 600,000. The new Slovakian site will be built with the possibility of expansion if customer demand warrants.
Although the press release states that “several thousand jobs will be created” in the region, Reuters claims that the news agency has a much more precise number. The agency claims that 3,300 people will be hired between now 2026. The Slovakian government will cover around 20% of the EUR1.2B investment. Volvo’s ultimate goal to become completely carbon neutral by 2040 is made possible by the new plant.