The Volkswagen Zwickau plant sets an EV production record for the company, producing 7,100 electric vehicles between November 7 to November 11.
Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant is a giant of a facility. The plant simultaneously produces six models for three brands. For Audi, the plant produces the Q4 e-tron and Q4 e-tron Sportback; for Cupra, the plant builds the Cupra Born; for Volkswagen, the plant produces the ID.3, ID.4, and ID.5, as per Teslarati.
Zwickau plant’s production rate
According to Electrive, combining the production totals for each of these models for November 7 to November 11, the company set 7,100 units of production record.
“This is a very good achievement of the entire team and a unique record because, before the transformation, such high numbers were not even technically possible.” said Volkswagen’s Managing Director of Technology and Logistics, Robert Janssen, after a successful production week.
“My thanks, therefore, go to my colleagues, who are impressively demonstrating how we are continuing to drive forward the transformation at Volkswagen with speed and high quality.” shared Volkswagen brand manager Thomas Schafer.
Last week, many criticized VW for reconsidering building its Trinity EV production facility. However, the news released on November 19 regarding the company’s pre-existing EV production builds confidence in the German automaker.
At the other week’s pace, Volkswagen could produce 369,200 EVs annually from the Zwickau plant alone. With the automaker continuing to increase EV production at its other facilities, the German carmaker may be in better shape than initially expected.
However, questions arise on how this success will translate at other VW plants and if the other facilities can achieve the Zwickau plant’s production rate. Answers to these are still unclear, but there exist some good indicators.
Volkswagen’s increased EV production in other markets
The company has promised a significant shift to EV production for the North American market, primarily to get their vehicles sold in the US eligible for federal tax credits.
At the same time, as VW Group brands have worked to expand production in China, the Chinese market’s unquenchable EV thirst is also driving the automaker to ramp up EV production there.
Furthermore, in other European Volkswagen plants, many anticipate Europe’s regulatory push towards EVs to motivate Volkswagen to increase production significantly.
Increase in vehicle demand
Notably, the push for EV production was reflected in the company’s sales reports. Some VW Group brands have seen a rapid increase in vehicle demand, such as the Audi e-tron, VW ID.3 and ID.4, the Porsche Taycan, and even the Europe-exclusive models from Cupra and SEAT.
Volkswagen has the capital and the motivation to continue to increase EV production, but the rate at which that’s pursued is still in the air.
