VW announces €200 million investment in Portuguese plant next year

Volkswagen will invest €200 million in 2012 to modernize the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, 30 kilometers southeast of Portuguese capital Lisbon.

The announcement was made by Hubert Waltl, Volkswagen brand manager for production and logistics, at the plants’s 20th anniversary. “With superior products and a highly qualified team, the plant in Palmela has been for 20 years an important part of the Volkswagen brand and has contributed significantly to the success of our company. I congratulate the entire team and wish the location for a successful future, ” Waltl said.

Plant manager Antonio Pires de Melo told Portuguese media that VW’s investment will also provide new jobs, a critical issue in a country where unemployment reached a record high 12.9 percent. The announcement is very good news for the Portuguese economy following Nissan’s recent cancellation of a €156 million battery plant project in Aveiro.

The ceremony to mark the plant’s 20th anniversary was attented by Portugal’s prime minister Pedro Passo Coelho, as well as numerous personalities from business and politics. “The Palmela plant is the largest foreign investment in Portugal. Since 1991, Volkswagen invested € 3.2 billion and created 3,200 jobs. Portugal can continue to count on Volkswagen,” said the manager of the Palmela plant.

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• Volkswagen plans $378-million investment in India by 2013
• Volkswagen to increase car financing in Europe
• VW’s transparent factory achieves production record in 2011
• VW to save €5 billion a year through increased parts sharing
• VW to expand U.S. dealer network
• VW sold 8 million cars in 2011, more than Toyota
• VW Polo plug-in hybrid is in the works