Holes, water puddles, gullies in the road. It was through the LinkedIn network that those responsible for the Volkswagen Autoeuropa factory publicly expressed their discontent regarding the state of degradation of the access roads to the factory.
A state of degradation so advanced that, in the opinion of those responsible for the Palmela factory, it is a “threat to the safety of people and goods”.
Following the publication on LinkedIn, those responsible for the plant in Palmela have attached three images.
In this post, those responsible for the «Palmela factory» also took the opportunity to recall the importance of the factory for the country and the region: “We are the largest foreign investment in Portugal, the second largest exporter and the sixth largest Portuguese company”. A reminder that is backed up by a final warning:
The attractiveness of Portugal does not just depend on a good image abroad. The one we design internally is just as or more important.
Contacted by Razão Automóvel, João Delgado, responsible for communication and institutional relations at Volkswagen Autoeuropa, stated that those responsible for the factory have “made every effort to resolve this situation with the responsible entity, but without success — despite the good institutional relations we maintain ”.
Razão Automóvel also contacted the Municipality of Palmela, but we still haven't received an answer.
Volkswagen Autoeuropa. More than a car factory
Founded in 1991, Volkswagen Autoeuropa — initially born from a joint venture between the Volkswagen Group and Ford — is currently responsible for 75% of all national automobile production and represents 1.6% of the Portuguese GDP.
Models known to the Portuguese, such as the SEAT Alhambra, Volkswagen Sharan, Eos, Scirocco and more recently, Volkswagen T-Roc , are just one of the most visible faces of Volkswagen Autoeuropa.
However, the Volkswagen Group factory located in Palmela is not only dedicated to the final assembly of cars. Of the 38.6 million stamped parts that left Autoeuropa in 2019, 23 946 962 were exported.
Stamped parts that supply 20 factories spread across nine countries and three continents, and whose final destination is models of the SEAT, Škoda, Volkswagen, AUDI and Porsche brands.
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Strong investment in 2020
Despite the constraints on access to Autoeuropa, Volkswagen has already announced an investment of 103 million euros for 2020.
Part of this investment will be allocated to the modernization and automation of the internal logistics warehouse and the construction of a new cutting line in the metal press area.
Production record in 2019
Volkswagen Autoeuropa has never produced as many units as last year.
In 2019 they left the production line at the Palmela plant more than 254 600 cars . A record number and one of the reasons why the Portuguese Volkswagen factory is at the top of the German group's efficiency and quality charts.
Doing the math, more than 890 cars come out of Volkswagen Autoeuropa every day. A number that may increase in 2020, due to the investments that the Volkswagen Group has been making in the Portuguese factory.