Kuka to deliver 700 robots for VW’s production in Spain

The automation expert Kuka has received a new order from the Volkswagen Group: Kuka is to supply 700 robots to VW this year and over the next two years. The robots are to be deployed at Volkswagen Navarra in Pamplona in northern Spain, where two electric models are produced.

These are the Skoda Epiq small SUV and the crossover version of the ID.2, which will likely be called the ID.2 X. Volkswagen has hardly communicated anything about its model so far, but Skoda recently presented a study. Despite its compact exterior dimensions, the Epiq is expected to have a spacious interior, with up to 490 litres of luggage space and a range of more than 400 kilometres. The same is likely to apply to the ID.2 X, as both vehicles will be similar sister models.

Both models are set to make their debut in 2025 and cost around 25,000 euros in the basic version. Skoda quoted this figure for the Epiq and it is also VW’s target for the ID.2. However, the Wolfsburg-based company has been cautious about the ID.2 X so far, and there is no definitive information on the price. What is clear is that the new Kuka robots are to “assist” in their production, namely in body-in-white production. Specifically, Kuka and VW have concluded a framework agreement under which the Wolfsburg-based company will be able to call off up to 700 Kuka robots over the next two years.

Various Kuka robots have already been in use at the Pamplona plant for almost 30 years. “KUKA has been a strong and global partner to the automotive industry for decades. We are pleased to continue our trusting cooperation with Volkswagen,” says Peter Mohnen, CEO of Kuka AG.

Volkswagen and its subsidiary Seat announced a major investment in e-mobility projects in Spain at the end of 2022. A total of ten billion euros will be invested primarily in the battery factory in Sagunt near Valencia and the conversion of the Martorell and Pamplona plants for the production of small electric cars. Volkswagen has ambitious targets for production at both Spanish plants: Around three million fully electric small cars are to be produced there between 2025 and 2030.

Spain is not the only location where VW and Kuka are cooperating on electric vehicle production: back in 2020, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles commissioned Kuka with the planning, delivery, assembly and commissioning of a fully automated body construction system for the substructure of the all-electric ID. Buzz.

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