Volkswagen Autoeuropa Lda. is an
automotive assembly plant, located in the city of
Palmela
Palmela () is a town and a municipality in Portugal. The population in 2011 was 62,831, in an area of 465.12 km².
The municipality is located in the Lisboa Region and Setúbal District, about south of Lisbon. The municipal holiday is 1 Ju ...
, near
Lisbon
Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...
,
Portugal
Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of ...
. Formed in 1991, it began operations in 1995 fully owned by Volkswagen. It is the largest foreign industrial investment in Portugal.
History
After the signature of a joint venture agreement between
Volkswagen Group
Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercial ...
and
Ford in July 1991, the 2 million m
2 plant was built in four years, including a surrounding industrial park on which key suppliers are located. The plant and surrounding industrial park cost in total 1.970 M€.
Opened as a 50/50 joint venture, its initial purpose was to assemble a communal-designed
MPV model sold under three marques:
Volkswagen Sharan
The Volkswagen Sharan is a seven-seater minivan that was produced by the German Volkswagen Group and built at the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal, with a front-wheel-drive version across two generations, from 1995 to 2022. Through badge engin ...
,
SEAT Alhambra
The SEAT Alhambra is a seven-seater minivan that was built from 1996 to 2020. It was manufactured under the SEAT brand from June 1996 onwards at the Volkswagen Group's AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal. It shares the same platform with the Vo ...
, and
Ford Galaxy. Producing these vehicles, Volkswagen Autoeuropa almost reached its production limit of 172,500 units per year.
However, when Ford left the joint venture and the model life-cycle approached its end, Volkswagen took ownership of the plant and production declined considerably. Under Volkswagen's internal bidding system, the plant had to compete for new models with other Volkswagen plants, while threatening to close the plant and to give concessions to the workers and the State.
Eventually, AutoEuropa won the production rights of the new convertible/coupé-only
Volkswagen Eos from late 2005, producing just 79,896 vehicles of the original models plus the Eos. In 2008 the plant started production of the third generation
Volkswagen Scirocco, and presently employs 3,000 people on site, 2,350 supplier jobs on the industrial park, and an additional 3,750 supplier jobs within Portugal.
As the existing models come to the end of their life cycles, the plant will need to compete for new models from 2010 onwards. It was proposed that in 2009 to prepare the production line for the replacement, although the
economic crisis will delay that model.
Internal sources said Volkswagen Autoeuropa was to take up production of the
Volkswagen Polo
The Volkswagen Polo is a supermini car (B-segment) produced by the German car manufacturer Volkswagen since 1975. It is sold in Europe and other markets worldwide in hatchback, saloon, and estate variants throughout its production run.
History
...
by November 2010 at the latest, as a 2011 showroom model, a sub-compact sold everywhere but the US and Canada. The factory management were also bidding for production of the new
Volkswagen BlueSport
The Volkswagen Concept BlueSport is a mid-engined roadster concept car produced by Volkswagen. It was introduced at the 2009 North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Concept BlueSport follows on from a previous roadster concept car ...
roadster. None of these plans came to fruition.
On July 1, 2013, car number 2,000,000 rolled off the assembly line, a Volkswagen Sharan 2.0 TDI Highline.
In December 2016, the plant won the production rights for the new compact crossover,
Volkswagen T-Roc.
In March 2020, SEAT Alhambra is discontinued.
Production
Production by model
Current production
*
Volkswagen T-Roc (Nov, 2017–present)
Former production
*
Ford Galaxy Mk1 (May, 1995 - Feb, 2006)
*
SEAT Alhambra Mk1 (1996 - 2010)
*
Volkswagen Sharan Mk1 (May, 1995 - 2010)
*
Volkswagen Eos (2006 - Jun, 2015)
*
Volkswagen Scirocco Mk3 (Jun, 2008 - Oct, 2017)
*
SEAT Alhambra Mk2 (2010 - 2020)
*
Volkswagen Sharan Mk2 (2010 - 2022)
References
External links
AutoEuropa plant website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Volkswagen Autoeuropa
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Portugal
Car manufacturers of Portugal
Volkswagen Group factories