Automaker SEAT builds Spain’s first electric battery factory

Spanish carmaker SEAT said on Wednesday that it plans to build Spain’s first electric car battery factory as part of a €10 billion investment in the initiative. electric cars in this country.

Last year, the Spanish government said it would transform the car manufacturing industry of the country, the second largest in Europe, with funds from the European Union’s post-pandemic recovery plan. .

SEAT, part of the Volkswagen Group, plans to build a battery plant in Sagunto, a town near the eastern city of Valencia. The Company The Volkswagen Group will also electrify SEAT’s existing car plants in the northern city of Pamplona and Martorell, a town near Barcelona.

SEAT President Wayne Griffiths said the €10 billion investment would allow the company to make it Electric Car for both domestic sales and European export markets. SEAT has committed to produce an electric car in the range of 20,000 to 25,000 euros ($20,000-25,000).

“This project will democratize access to sustainable mobility in Europe with electric cars made in Spain,” said Griffiths.

The announcement included SEAT’s acceptance of a €397 million ($399 million) offer from the Spanish government for Europe’s Next Generation fund.

Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez celebrated the deal. The Spanish government described tram as a priority to both create quality jobs and meet Europe’s ban on the sale of new petrol and diesel cars by 2035.

“It is important that the Volkswagen Group and SEAT reaffirm their commitment to Spain to transform their plants in Martorell and Pamplona and build a battery factory in Sagunto as part of the initiative. our electric car,” wrote Sánchez in Spanish on Twitter.

“We are re-industrializing our country and leading the energy transition,” he said.

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