Volvo chooses Slovakia to build new electric car plant

Volvo on Friday announced plans to build a car plant in Košice, Slovakia.

This plant will be Volvo's third car plant in Europe, following existing plants in Belgium and Sweden. This is the first time in 60 years that Volvo has announced plans to build a new plant in Europe.

The plant will produce exclusively electric vehicles and will be capable of producing up to 250,000 vehicles per year. The location is also well-positioned to accommodate further expansion in the future if needed. Together with the plants in Belgium and Sweden, Volvo's production capacity in Europe will increase to approximately 600,000 vehicles per year.

Volvo has delivered about 700,000 vehicles in 2021 and has plans to expand this figure to 1.2 million by mid-decade. Other plants are located in the U.S. and China, which together will add a capacity of about 800,000 vehicles per year.

Volvo will invest nearly 1 billion euros (about $1.04 billion) in the new plant, with the Slovak government providing another 20%. Approximately 3,300 direct jobs will be created.

If all goes according to plan, construction will begin in 2023, with the first vehicles rolling off the line in 2026; by 2030, Volvo plans to produce only EVs at all its plants worldwide.

There is no mention of what vehicles will be produced at the new plant. One possibility is a crossover smaller than the compact XC40, which former Volvo CEO Hakan Samuelsson hinted at last year. [Volvo's current CEO Jim Rowan said in a statement, "We have a clear goal of becoming a pure electric mobility brand by 2030. Expansion in Europe, our largest sales region, is critical to our shift to electrification and continued growth."