Volkswagen suspends battery factories in Europe, pending EU response to IRA

March 8 (Reuters) – Volkswagen is awaiting Europe’s response to the U.S. Cut Inflation Act before moving forward with plans to build new battery plants in Europe, the Commission said on Wednesday. Company.

The Financial Times previously reported that Volkswagen had halted plans to build a battery plant in Eastern Europe, the next planned plant in the region, and prioritized building a plant in North America. North, where it could win grants worth 9,000 to 10,000 million euros ($10,540 million).

Asked about the article, a Volkswagen spokesperson said the automaker was “still evaluating suitable locations for our upcoming cell plants in Eastern Europe and North America. No decision has been made yet. “.

Under former CEO Herbert Diess, Volkswagen said in March 2021 that it would build 6 gigafactories in Europe with a total capacity of 240 gigawatt hours.

“We are maintaining our plan to build cell factories of around 240 GWh in Europe by 2030, but for this we need good framework conditions. That is why we are waiting to see what the so- saying the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ is in store for us,” the Wednesday statement read.

Thomas Schmall, a member of Volkswagen’s management board, posted last week on LinkedIn that Europe risked losing “the race for billions of investments which will be decided in the months and years to come” on the attractive terms offered.

The company said last October that it expects to make a firm decision on the location of a factory in Eastern Europe in the first half of 2023.

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(Reporting by Victoria Waldersee and Jan Schwartz; Editing by Friederike Heine and Bernadette Baum, editing in Spanish by José Munoz)