Volkswagen said on Tuesday it plans to build a new state-of-the-art car factory close to its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, hoping to raise its game as the opening of Tesla's gigafactory near Berlin draws closer.
The plant, which still requires approval by Volkswagen's supervisory board over the coming weeks, is part of the group's Trinity project under which the carmaker wants to build a flagship electric sedan in Wolfsburg from 2026.
Constructing an all-new plant is an alternative to adapting the existing Wolfsburg plant to produce the Trinity model, which VW says would limit the possibilities for more radical changes to the manufacturing process. "That way we are gaining time and space to gradually modernise the main factory in a far-reaching way and raise production there, too, to a new level."