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Area Development - Site Selection, Facility Planning and Workforce Development

Volkswagen Group Plans St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada, North American Gigafactory

03/20/2023
The Volkswagen Group and its battery company PowerCo will establish Volkswagen’s first overseas gigafactory for cell manufacturing in St. Thomas, Ontario, Canada. The project is expected to create more than 2,000 jobs.

The facility, scheduled for production in 2027, will produce sustainable unified cells, and is part of a larger plan that Volkswagen and PowerCo agreed upon with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's government in August last year, according to company officials.

“Our gigafactory in Canada sends a strong message: PowerCo is on track to become a global battery player," said Thomas Schmall, Board Member for Technology of Volkswagen AG and Chairman of the Supervisory Board of PowerCo SE. “With the expansion to North America, we will enter a key market for e-mobility and battery cell production, driving forward our global battery strategy at full speed. Canada and Ontario are perfect partners for scaling up our battery business and green economy jobs, as we share the same values of sustainability, responsibility and cooperation. We are committed to be a reliable partner and good neighbor for the people in St. Thomas and Ontario.“

PowerCo carries out all battery activities of the Volkswagen Group, from processing raw materials to developing a unified Volkswagen battery to managing gigafactories.

”It is a stunning move, and I think acknowledged by Volkswagen that they felt they would want to be in the middle of this whole electric battery ecosystem that we’ve created in Ontario,” noted Ontario Economic Development Minister Vic Fedeli.

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