Volkswagen Group chooses Canada for cell manufacturing gigafactory

(From left) Oliver Blume, CEO Volkswagen Group; Thomas Schmall, Group board member for technology; and Hon. François-Philippe Champagne, Canada’s Minister of Innovation, Science, and Industry.

The Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo have selected St. Thomas, Ont., to establish Volkswagen’s first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing, which will produce sustainable, unified cells. Production is scheduled to start in 2027.

After Salzgitter, Germany and Valencia, Spain, this will be the third Group-owned plant worldwide and PowerCo’s first cell factory in North America. It will equip the Group brand’s battery electric vehicles in the region with battery cells.

The Volkswagen Group plans to introduce more than 25 new BEV models through 2030.