• Canada is a strong contender to be Volkswagen’s choice for the location of its future battery plant in North America.
• In August, the company signed a memorandum of understanding with Canada to intensify the search for materials needed to build batteries.
• The Minister of Industry, François-Philippe Champagne, is touring Belgium and Germany in search of investment in the automotive sector.
Volkswagen and its battery subsidiary PowerCo have begun looking for a site for the German manufacturer's first battery cell plant in North America. This is according to Reuters, which cited a source within Volkswagen.
The source said that Canada was “a logical option” for the construction of the plant. The plant would be Volkswagen's first mega-factory outside of Europe.
The move was described as an extension of the memorandum of understanding signed last August between Volkswagen and mineral-rich Canada. At that time, the parties agreed to intensify their efforts to gain access to lithium, nickel and cobalt.
European carmakers have been pushing for stakes in battery production on the continent, but the industry is still in its infancy.
In September, Volkswagen announced a $2.9 billion USD joint venture to manufacture battery parts with Belgian materials company Umicore.
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Looking for a site in North America, Thomas Schmall, Volkswagen's board member for technology, said PowerCo was about to cross the Atlantic: “The conditions in North America are very attractive. The most competitive site wins.”
Canada’s Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne is currently visiting Belgium and Germany in an effort to secure more investment in the automotive sector.
We will be watching this closely, as a positive announcement would have a significant economic impact, especially with the creation of jobs. The environmental impact of such an operation will bear watching as well.