By Volkswagen standards, it went really quickly: One year after the first thoughts about a new factory for robot cars and six months after the presentation of the first concrete plans, the location for what is perhaps the most important future project has now been determined: almost right next to the main plant in the north The “Trinity”, as the electric car with the very extensive robotic functions is called, is to be manufactured in the Warmenau district. Stendal, Gifhorn and Helmstedt are out of the running. According to information from Süddeutsche Zeitung the first VW committees have approved the location – this Friday the supervisory board will most likely give the green light. Construction will start next year, and the first cars should roll off the assembly line in 2026 – and Wolfsburg as a whole will also be renewed on the train, at least some hope so.
“All in all, the Trinity plant in Wolfsburg would make it the most modern automotive location in the world,” explains VW brand boss Ralf Brandstätter, who praises the short distances to the “Campus Sandkamp” research center, which is also being built. The most efficient of our own factories serve as a model: those in China. The new German plant should run even more quickly: Nowadays, for example, the rear body is assembled from up to 70 individual parts. At Trinity, that could just be a single part from a die-casting machine – a manufacturing process established by Tesla.
The employee side is also pleased. Wolfsburg remains the “power center” of the group. But in the end, an even bigger leap is needed: “We want to use the construction of the Trinity plant and the Sandkamp campus as an opportunity to make Wolfsburg more attractive overall,” says Daniela Cavallo, chair of the works council. Her diagnosis, which was quite correct: Seen from outside, the city does not have a good reputation, but that does not do her justice. “We have to work on that because we need talent that is in demand all over the world,” says Cavallo, who is from Wolfsburg herself. A core part is that part of the city that everyone sees who takes the train: the area around the train station. So far it consists of Bruno’s tunnel tavern and a huge parking lot for VW employees. Which does not necessarily correspond to what Wolfsburg advertises on the Autobahn: “adventure city”.
Plans are already in place: The not uncontroversial investor Signa around the Austrian Rene Benko (including Karstadt, Kaufhof) would like to develop the quarter – and is now supported by the workforce: “Now this redesign must get off the ground quickly, with the corresponding commitments from Volkswagen ‘ Cavallo demands. A small debate with the CEO creeps in here: Herbert Diess, in any case, is not completely convinced of the benefits for the city and Autostadt and only a few weeks ago advised local politicians to first openly discuss whether the big hit is really coming.