SEAT Componentes to manufacture new 6-speed manual for Volkswagen Group MQB platform; 450K units/year
16 February 2017
The SEAT Componentes plant has been awarded the Volkswagen Group’s new MQ281 gearbox, a 6-speed manual gearbox that will be equipped in vehicles manufactured with the MQB platform. Located in El Prat de Llobregat, this is one of the facilities owned by the Volkswagen Group worldwide for the manufacture of transmissions, together with the ones in Kassel (Germany), Mladá Boleslav and Vrchlabi (Czech Republic), Córdoba (Argentina) and the four plants located in China (Tianjin, Dalian, Changchun and Anting).
SEAT Componentes will start to manufacture this gearbox in 2019 and annual production capacity is forecasted to reach 450,000 units for worldwide distribution. With the production of the MQ281, SEAT Componentes, one of the carmaker’s three production centres in addition to the ones in Martorell and Barcelona, will exceed its maximum production capacity. The first model to be equipped with the new gearbox will be the Volkswagen Passat.
New equipment and assembly lines will be installed to get the facilities ready to manufacture 1,800 units daily of the new MQ281.
SEAT Componentes’ current annual production totals around 650,000 gearboxes, a figure which is expected to reach 800,000 units, the plant’s maximum capacity, when the allocation is added. The center features a workforce of over 1,000 employees and exports 70% of its output.
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