The Volkswagen Group’s Supervisory Board has approved a new manufacturing facility for the Trinity electric model. (Earlier post.) The new plant is to be built close to the main plant in Wolfsburg, with investment totaling some €2 billion.

The new Trinity factory is a key component of the largest modernization program in the history of Volkswagen’s main location. Construction work in the Warmenau district of Wolfsburg is to begin as early as spring 2023 and will take account of building and environmental law. In so doing, the new site will meet high environmental standards.

To that end, Volkswagen will engage in an intensive exchange with the relevant authorities as well as with stakeholders. The net carbon-neutral Trinity model, built using the most innovative manufacturing methods, is to roll off the assembly line from 2026. The new facility with its optimized processes will therefore become a model for the gradual transformation of production at the main Wolfsburg plant along with all other Volkswagen manufacturing sites worldwide.

Trinity represents the next generation of electric vehicles at Volkswagen. The foundation is the future SSP platform that will enable Level 4 autonomous driving and will set new standards for electrification and the digitalization of mobility. Over the lifetime of the platform, it will be the basis for more than 40 million vehicles. The platform debuts in the volume segment with Trinity.

Volkswagen also intends to set standards in Trinity production when it commences in 2026, and is aiming for a production time of 10 hours per vehicle. The key: Fewer variants, fewer components, more automation, leaner production lines and new logistic concepts. Campus Sandkamp creates the framework for optimal, time-efficient collaboration among all areas of Volkswagen through modern working practices. (Earlier post.) Volkswagen is investing €800 million in the most advanced research and development center in Europe to drive the future of mobility in the coming years. There are plans to integrate modern electric vehicle production based on the SSP platform and modeled on the Trinity facility at the existing main plant by 2030.

The decision to build the new factory on a greenfield site was preceded by an analysis of several options, including an intensive review of the feasibility to locate Trinity production within the Wolfsburg plant. Apart from higher efficiency in the medium-term, factors favoring the construction of a new factory in Warmenau include in particular the fact that this option does not disrupt ongoing series production or ramp-ups of important models such as the Tiguan and Tayron or the Golf facelift scheduled for the coming years.

Last December, the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen AG already confirmed production of the Trinity electric model at the Wolfsburg location under Planning Round 70. However, the transformation of the main plant into a manufacturing facility for electric vehicles already begins much earlier: Volkswagen will start building the ID.3 in Wolfsburg in 2023 to meet demand for the brand’s electric models.