Volkswagen Successfully Transforms Zwickau Site Into An Electric Vehicle Production Plant

Volkswagen is driving forward the shift to electric vehicle manufacturing with its ACCELERATE strategy. Last January's official start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the completion of Volkswagen’s successful transformation of its Zwickau plant into a dedicated electric vehicle production facility.

Photo Insert: This is the world’s first complete conversion of a large-scale factory from internal combustion engine vehicle production to dedicated electric vehicle production.

The long-established site in western Saxony is the first large-scale facility of any volume manufacturer worldwide to switch overall production from internal combustion engine vehicles to electric vehicles. Six models from the Volkswagen, Audi, and CUPRA brands will now be manufactured in Zwickau based on the modular electric drive matrix (MEB). The plants in Emden (ID.4), Hanover (ID. Buzz) and Chattanooga (USA, ID.4) will be added to the electric vehicle production network this year. The Volkswagen brand has thus laid the foundations for building 1.2 million all-electric vehicles at its sites in Europe, the USA, and China in 2022 based on the MEB.

Dr. Christian Vollmer, Member of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Brand responsible for Production: “Volkswagen will continue to increase the pace of e-mobility in 2022 with its ACCELERATE strategy and the expansion of the model portfolio. The Zwickau production plant has paved the way for the Group to do this with six ramp-ups from three brands in just 26 months. The knowledge and experience gained will help us to continue to electrify our production network quickly and efficiently.”

Dr. Stefan Loth, Chairman of the Board of Volkswagen Saxony: “After Gläserne Manufaktur Dresden, we have now converted a second Volkswagen factory in Saxony to dedicated electric vehicle production. The start of production of the ID.5 and ID.5 GTX marks the successful transformation of the Zwickau plant on the product side. Our focus now – depending on how the semiconductor situation pans out – will be on achieving full capacity. This year we aim to exceed the 180,000 vehicles Volkswagen Saxony built-in 2021.”

Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Saxony: “Switching over to electric vehicle production was exactly the right decision for the Zwickau plant. Demand for our models is booming, and our team’s jobs will be safe for years to come. We are a trailblazer of change and have repaid the Group’s trust in us. This is first and foremost a fantastic achievement by our workforce.”

An efficient digital model factory

Since 2018, around 1.2 billion euros has been spent on converting the Zwickau plant from ICE vehicle production into a digital, flexible, highly efficient showcase factory for the manufacture of electric vehicles. Increasing use is being made of technology such as smart Industry 4.0 robots and driverless transportation systems that take components to the assembly line completely autonomously.

Close to 40 percent of the investment volume went into the enhancement and expansion of the body shop alone. This area’s already high level of automation now reaches nearly 90 percent, and the number of state-of-the-art robots has risen from 1,200 to 1,625.

Automation in the assembly line has also been almost doubled to 28 percent, and production ergonomics have improved significantly. Only jobs involving monotonous or physically strenuous work have been affected, such as working with one’s hands above one’s shoulders or overhead work.

In total, more than 50,000 square meters of new building space have been created, such as for the expansion of the press shop, which is where all shell body parts for the electric models are now pressed on-site – saving 9,000 truck trips per year. Other major projects involved the construction of a new logistics building as well as a battery sequencer, which is now the tallest building at the Zwickau site. The volume of investment for these three projects alone is around 115 million euros.

The transformation to electric vehicle production in Zwickau has created enduring, future-proof jobs. Some 9,000 permanent staff working at the site received training in the new technology as part of a major training initiative. For example, all employees attended information events on electric vehicles.

A total of 3,000 production workers completed the training center’s e-mobility program to prepare them for the new production requirements. By the end of 2020, the Zwickau team had put in a total of around 20,000 days of training.

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