Volkswagen announces that it is pausing its plans to build electric battery factories in Europe.
The German automaker plans to open several new electric battery production plants on the Old Continent. But the political uncertainties pushed him to put the kibosh (temporarily) on his ambitions.
What will be the European response to the IRA?
The Inflation Reduction Act is beginning to make its effects felt on the European continent. This large plan for financing strategic industries in the climate or energy sectors, and endowed with an envelope of nearly 370 billion dollars, opens up large subsidies for companies producing in the United States. This plan, seen as protectionist by Europe, must call for a response.
In any case, this is the opinion of Volkswagen, which has put its plans for battery factories in Europe on hold, while waiting to know the countermeasures that Brussels will take. According to the FinancialTimesthe German manufacturer would have already imposed a downtime on a factory in eastern Europe to work in priority on a site in North America which would allow it to collect 9 to 10 billion euros in subsidies.
Hurry up
” De facto, we are progressing much faster in North America “, thus explained a source close to the file to Reuters. However, the project to build six gigafactories of batteries in Europe is still valid, just over a year after the commissioning of the first Swedish Northvolt factory.
” We maintain our plan to build cell factories for around 240 GWh in Europe by 2030, but for this we need adequate framework conditions. That’s why we’re waiting to see what the EU’s ‘Green Deal’ will bring “, indicates the company in a press release.
But it will be necessary to speed things up, because the patience of the automobile giant is not infinite. According to Volkswagen board member Thomas Schmall, speaking on LinkedIn, by not taking a quick decision, Europe could lose “ the race for billions of investments that will be decided in the months and years to come “.
Source : Reuters
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