Volkswagen to Expand Diesel Engine Plant in Poland

VIENNA – Volkswagen Motor Polska diesel engine plant lays the cornerstone for a new 215,280-sq.-ft. (20,000- sq.-m) production hall at its site in Polkowice, Poland.

The new facility will allow the auto maker to increase its daily manufacturing capacity from the current 2,400 diesel engines to 3,400 units.

“The construction of a new hall willenable a significant production increase,” Christian Bleiel, managing director-Volkswagen Motor Polska, says during the foundation stone ceremony. “We will be able to produce up to 1 million diesel engines a year at our company by 2018.”

Volkswagen does not comment on the investment or the impact on the employment.

The plant, which employs about 1,150 workers, currently manufactures 1.6L and 2.0L 4-cyl.-common-rail diesel engines. Production of pump-injector engines was phased out last year.

The factory will add production of VW’s MDB engines EA 288 with the same displacement in July. MDB is the German acronym for “modular diesel engine matrix.” The new mills will share the assembly line with the current common-rail powerplants.

The new production hall will see the start the start of machining, mainly of engine blocks for the MDB engines, in early 2014. A new assembly line with capacity of up to 1,000 engines a day is expected to launch operations in 2015, depending on demand.

Volkswagen Motor Polska produced 657,960 engines last year.

The plant also manufactures engine components for Volkswagen plants worldwide, including cylinder heads, camshafts and crankshafts, crankcases and connecting rods.