Hyundai Mobis starts building battery plant for VW in Spain
Last August, the supplier Hyundai Mobis announced a major order from Volkswagen for battery production in Spain. Now the ground-breaking ceremony for a new battery factory has taken place in the presence of María Chivite, Governor of the province of Navarra, and Sebastian Marco, Mayor of the municipality of Noain. The South Korean company’s aim is to start mass production at the plant in 2026. To this end, Hyundai Mobis is investing around 120 million euros in the site. 360,000 battery systems per year are then to be installed in the small SUV Skoda Epiq and VW ID.2 X, which are expected to be assembled at the nearby VW plant in Pamplona from 2026.
Jung In-bo, the head of Mobis’ Spanish electrification plant, said: “We are committed to being a long-term partner of Volkswagen through stable supplies of automotive components, and we will endeavour to diversify our supply base in Europe, including the supply of upcoming models for our customer.”
The site of the Spanish factory covers around 150,000 square metres, which is the size of 21 football pitches. The building area is 50,000 square metres. Hyundai Mobis plans to produce up to 360,000 battery systems a year at the plant – which gives an idea of the quantities VW is planning for the ID.2 X and Epiq from Pamplona. VW is currently building its own battery assembly line for the two small cars, the VW ID.2 and Cupra Raval, which are built at Seat in Martorell. The systems from Hyundai Mobis are therefore only intended for two of the four upcoming electric models from Spain. In all cases, the cells are to come from the PowerCo factory in Sagunt, which is currently being built near Valencia.
The province of Navarre is located in the northernmost part of Spain, on the border with France, and serves as a bridgehead for access to mainland Europe. Navarra is the second largest location for automotive production in Europe after Germany and is strategically located, as the most important global automotive manufacturers and suppliers can be reached within two to three hours from Pamplona.
Hyundai Mobis is the sixth largest automotive supplier in the world. The South Korean company already operates production facilities for battery systems in Korea, China and the Czech Republic and is building several other plants in the USA and Indonesia. The new plant in Spain represents a significant strategic entry into Western Europe and will serve as a dedicated plant to supply Volkswagen.
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