Volvo Cars Akan Membuka Kilang Khusus Kenderaan Elektrik di Slovakia

Kilang ketiga Volvo Cars di Eropah akan ditempatkan di Kosice, Slovakia.

Kilang Volvo Cars Torslanda dan Ghent kini disertai oleh kilang kereta Eropah ketiga di Slovakia. Pembinaan kilang Kosice di bahagian Timur Slovakia akan dimulakan pada 2023, dengan peralatan dan barisan pengeluaran dijangka akan datang pada tahun berikutnya. Bagaimanapun, Volvo hanya menjangkakan kenderaan elektrik generasi seterusnya akan mula dikeluarkan di sana pada 2026.

Dengan Eropah Utara dan Barat diliputi kilang Torslanda (Sweden) dan Ghent (Belgium), kilang Kosice (Slovakia) melengkapkan segi tiga di sekitar wilayah jualan terbesar Volvo Cars. Lokasi ini mempunyai rangkaian logistik dan pengangkutan yang baik ke seluruh benua dan mempunyai akses kepada pangkalan pembekal yang bereputasi. Jenama kereta lain yang mempunyai kilang di Slovakia termasuk Kumpulan Volkswagen, PSA (kini Stellantis), Kia Motors dan Jaguar Land Rover. SUV mewah seperti Volkswagen Toureg, Audi Q7, Porsche Cayenne dan Land Rover Discovery semuanya dibuat di Slovakia. Volvo Cars juga tertarik dengan insentif yang ditawarkan oleh kerajaan Slovakia untuk menempatkan kilang baharu pertama mereka di Eropah selama 6 dekad di Kosice dan menyediakan beribu-ribu pekerjaan baharu di rantau ini.

Kilang itu akan menjadi neutral iklim dari hari pertama operasinya dan hanya akan membina kenderaan elektrik. Ini selaras dengan matlamat Volvo Cars untuk menjadi elektrik sepenuhnya menjelang 2030 dan neutral iklim menjelang 2040 sambil mengekalkan pertumbuhan.

Apabila kemudahan itu siap dan beroperasi, ia akan mempunyai kapasiti tahunan sebanyak 250,000 kereta setahun, dengan ruang untuk pengembangan pada masa hadapan.

Berikut ialah siaran media Volvo Cars dengan lebih maklumat.

MEDIA RELEASE

Volvo Cars announces today it will establish a third manufacturing plant in Europe, positioning the company well to meet the continued demand from its customers for electric cars and capture future growth potential.

The new state-of-the-art plant will be climate neutral and build only electric cars, underpinning the company’s ambition to become fully electric by 2030 and climate neutral by 2040, and to continue expanding its global production capacity to match its growth ambitions.

By picking Slovakia as the location for its new plant, Volvo Cars creates a European triangle of manufacturing covering its largest sales region – complementing the Ghent plant (Belgium) in western Europe and the Torslanda plant (Sweden) in northern Europe.

The new facility represents an investment of around EUR 1.2 billion (1). It will be located close to Kosice, in the eastern part of Slovakia, where it will benefit from a well-established automotive supply chain as it becomes the fifth car plant in the country.

Volvo Cars has an ambition to move towards annual sales of 1.2 million cars by mid-decade, which it aims to meet with a global manufacturing footprint spanning Europe, the US and Asia.

Construction of the Kosice plant is planned to start in 2023, with equipment and production lines installed during 2024. Series production of next-generation, pure electric Volvo cars is scheduled to start in 2026.

In line with Volvo Cars’ ambition to have climate neutral manufacturing operations by 2025, the plant will use only climate neutral energy. It will also be designed to be a leader in sustainable and efficient premium electric car production with an optimised layout and logistics flow, while Volvo Cars aims for the highest global standards in energy and environmental efficiency.

As for the location, Kosice offers good logistical and transport links to the rest of Europe and access to a good supplier base. The incentives offered by the Slovak government has also been a key factor in the decision to locate the plant in Kosice.

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 further expansion of the plant in future.

The establishment of the Kosice plant represents the first new European manufacturing site for Volvo Cars for almost 60 years. The Torslanda plant was opened in 1964, while the Ghent factory followed a year later. Together, these facilities can produce 600,000 cars per year.