Volkswagen reaches a milestone amidst difficulties

Volkswagen reaches one million electric cars produced at its flagship plant, but it was tough and the road remains long!

After five and a half years of fully electric production, Volkswagen’s Zwickau plant in Germany has reached a symbolic milestone: one million electric vehicles produced, with the latest, an ID.3 GTX Performance, soon to be delivered to a Bavarian customer. Out of all the electric vehicles the group has delivered, almost one in two was manufactured at this plant.

This figure is an important milestone, but it also highlights the challenges of a slow and laborious transition for Volkswagen. While players like Tesla or BYD produce the equivalent volume each year, the German group has had to adapt rapidly to catch up in the electric race.

The complete conversion of the plant, completed in January 2022 after an investment of 1.2 billion euros, allowed it to assemble six electric models for multiple brands. However, what should be a celebration underscores ongoing difficulties: volumes still far behind global leaders, dependence on the success of the MEB platform, and uncertainties regarding the site’s long-term viability. The need to make the factory competitive to secure future investments is already being discussed, proving that the industry challenge is far from over.

Everything was easier with combustion engines

Zwickau, once a stronghold of thermal production (the last combustion model was manufactured there in 2020), embodies the strategic shift of the group. Since 1990, over seven million vehicles have been produced there, but the future now depends on electric and potentially on diversification into circular economy initiatives. This direction, although ambitious, seems more of an imperative than a choice, as the market evolves rapidly.

With 204,000 vehicles produced in 2024, the plant remains a key element for Volkswagen, but the figures remind us that the group is still in a learning phase. While nearly half of the brand’s electric vehicles come from Zwickau, the gap with the leaders remains significant. To stay competitive, Volkswagen will need to demonstrate that it can produce large volumes and also meet increasing expectations around sustainability and innovation.

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