Seat will invest another 300 million euros in its electrification plan to build a battery cell assembly plant in Martorell, as announced yesterday by the Spanish subsidiary of the Volkswagen group. It will generate 400 direct jobs and 100 more indirect jobs, will supply the Catalan factory and will be supplied with cells from the gigafactory in Sagunt. The investment opts for aid from the new Perte VEC, endowed with 837 million for battery-related projects. Seat hopes to receive a significant percentage of the investment in aid after the disappointment of the first phase of the Perte.
The plant will be connected to the workshop where some of the electric cars for the German group will be manufactured, such as the Cupra Raval and its Volkswagen-branded version. “We will invest an additional 300 million euros to build these facilities, where the cells that PowerCo will manufacture in the gigafactory of Sagunto (Valencia) will also be assembled”, explained in a note the chief executive of Seat, Wayne Griffiths . It is “a project that will have an impact of more than 400 direct jobs and more than 100 indirect ones”, he specified.
The plant will have around 64,000 square meters and work is expected to start in the coming weeks, and to be completed in 2025. “These facilities are fundamental for our company and also represent an impetus to obtain a second platform in Martorell”, affirmed Griffiths. In the same vein, Matías Carnero, president of the works committee, spoke out, who considered this second platform essential, with cars larger than the small Raval, to ensure Martorell and its employment.
With regard to the workforce, Carnero clarified that “the 400 jobs will serve to partly compensate for the labor surplus that is expected with the manufacture of electric cars, which involves 30% fewer working hours than combustion vehicles “.
Wayne Griffiths also called on the authorities to “create a legal framework that ensures investments in the sector and boosts competitiveness”, promoting “sustainable mobility”.
Betting on public-private collaboration, Seat has applauded the new 15% reduction in personal income tax for the purchase of electric cars, although Griffiths insisted that “it must be accompanied by more investment to expand the recharging infrastructure”.
The manager insisted that “the moment is key for the industry” and Seat and the Volkswagen group are investing a lot of resources. “The Spanish and European institutions must also be convinced and get on the train”, he added.
As a whole, Seat’s electrification plan amounts to 10,000 million euros, “the largest industrial investment in the history of Spain”, as the company insists. About 3,000 million were intended for Martorell for the manufacture of the small electric vehicle of the German consortium, to which another 300 million will now be added.
The Generalitat assessed the announcement as “excellent news” that “guarantees the future of the company in Catalonia”, as underlined by the minister for Enterprise and Work, Roger Torrent. “It is important in terms of the future and the transition to electric mobility”, he added, pointing out that the decision “has been made possible by the joint work between Seat and the Government”. “Catalonia is once again an industrial power”, emphasized, for his part, the president Pere Aragonès, who pointed out that “reindustrialisation is not a matter of the future”.
Unions also celebrated the announcement. Matías Carnero (UGT) emphasized that the investment has been possible thanks to the last agreement agreed, in which even a smaller salary increase than had been foreseen is foreseen if the allocation of a second platform is confirmed of manufacture
Comissions Obreres de Catalunya stressed that the new battery cell assembly plant “will allow the transition from combustion cars to electric vehicles to take place without destroying employment”.
