Volvo reportedly invest $1.25 billion to build an electric vehicle production facility in Slovakia. The electric vehicle factory will strengthen Slovakia’s position as the world’s largest automaker per capita. Slovakia alone has a population of 5.4 million and has produced more than one million cars by 2021.
Volvo’s electric vehicle production facility in Slovakia will be the third in Europe and will support the company’s target of becoming an all-electric vehicle manufacturer by 2030.
The European Union has targeted to stop selling new vehicles with internal combustion engines by 2035.
“Expansion in Europe, our largest sales region, is crucial to our shift to electrification and continued growth,” Chief Executive Jim Rowan said in a statement.
The electric vehicle production facility in Slovakia is in the Kosice region, in the east of the country. The production facility is targeted to produce up to 250,000 units of electric vehicles per year.
“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 United States and Asia,” it said.
The production facility is expected to create 3,300 jobs around the city of Kosice. The area has long had a high unemployment rate compared to the western part of the country.
“I am very pleased that Slovakia succeeded in the competition for this mega investment that will bring development and many jobs to the east of Slovakia,” Economy Minister Richard Sulik said in a statement.
Previously, Volvo also had production facilities in Belgium and Sweden. Last year the production of the two plants increased 5.6% to nearly 700,000 cars, of which 27% were fully electric or plug-in hybrids.
