Volvo’s Third European Plant to Build Only Battery-Electrics

Volvo is ramping up its European battery-electric-vehicle production capability with plans to open its third dedicated plant for BEVs in the region.

It says the new factory in Slovakia will be climate neutral and build only electric cars as part of the company’s ambition to become fully electric by 2030 and climate neutral by 2040.

The automaker hopes the location of Slovakia will create a European triangle of manufacturing covering its largest sales region, complementing the Ghent plant in Belgium and the Torslanda plant in Sweden. Volvo will invest about €1.2 billion ($1.25 billion) in the Slovakian plant which is located close to Kosice in eastern Slovakia. It will benefit from a well-established automotive supply chain by becoming the fifth car plant in the country.

Construction of the Kosice factory is planned to start in 2023, with equipment and production lines installed during 2024. Series production of next-generation, battery-electric Volvo cars is scheduled to start in 2026. The facility is designed to produce up to 250,000 cars per year and is expected to provide several thousand new jobs in the region. The site also allows for future expansion of the plant.

Volvo says it hopes to achieve annual sales of 1.2 million BEVs by mid-decade, a target it aims to meet with a global manufacturing footprint spanning Europe, the U.S. and Asia.

Volvo Cars CEO Jim Rowan says: “Expansion in Europe, our largest sales region, is crucial to our shift to electrification and continued growth. I am very pleased to expand our Volvo Cars production footprint into Slovakia and look forward to welcoming new colleagues and partners on the journey ahead.”