Volkswagen ID.3 cars will be assembled also in Dresden (near the Zwickau factory) from late 2020 on.
Two weeks after starting production of the ID.3 in Zwickau, Volkswagen announced that its nearby small production facility and exhibition space – the Gläserne Manufaktur (or Transparent Factory) in Dresden, also will produce the ID.3.
Formerly, the Transparent Factory was used mainly for Volkswagen Phaeton and Bentley Continental Flying Spur. Since 2017, it was used temporarily to assemble the Volkswagen e-Golf, but the volumes of some 1,300 cars per year were just a small addition to the main e-Golf site in Wolfsburg.
The facility is in fact kind of a small final assembly line, as stamping, welding and painting of bodies is done in Zwickau. Dresden is responsible for putting together the pre-assembled components.
According to Volkswagen, production of the ID.3 in Dresden will start in fall 2020 and the volume will be “significantly” increased. We assume that the higher volume might be possible thanks to the simpler architecture of BEVs, but it’s hard to expect that it will be higher than a couple of thousand, possibly limited to just some certain version of the car.
“Currently, some 1,300 vehicles per year are handed over to customers in Germany. This number is to be significantly increased, thereby providing secure jobs for some 380 employees.”
Other models might be also added in the future:
“Following on from Zwickau, Dresden now becomes the second assembly plant in Germany for the ID.3. The first vehicles from the MEB family are scheduled to leave the assembly line in Dresden from fall 2020. The plant could possibly also assemble further models from the ID. family at a later point in time.”
It seems that the General Works Council and employees are excited about this. Jens Rothe, Chairman of the General Works Council at Volkswagen Sachsen, commented:
“The uncertainty following the end of Phaeton production is now over. The temporary assembly of the e-Golf means the team in Dresden is extremely well prepared for the future of e-mobility and well equipped for our ID. family. Capacity at the site is efficiently managed and jobs are secure. The General Works Council has always made a great effort to achieve this over the past years.”
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