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Volkswagen Autoeuropa

Industry	Automotive industry
Founded	December 3, 1991
Founder	Volkswagen Group
Products	Volkswagen T-Roc Stamped parts
Number of employees	4,980  (2022)
Parent	Volkswagen Group
Website	https://www.volkswagenautoeuropa.pt/

Volkswagen Autoeuropa Lda. is an automotive assembly plant, located in the city of Palmela, near Lisbon, Portugal. Formed in 1991 as a joint venture between Ford and Volkswagen, it began operations in 1995 and from 1999 became fully owned by Volkswagen when Ford left the joint venture. It is the largest foreign industrial investment in Portugal. It is currently the production site for the Volkswagen T-Roc.

History

After the signature of a joint venture agreement between Volkswagen Group and Ford in July 1991, the 2 million m plant was built in four years, including a surrounding industrial park on which key suppliers are located. The plant and surrounding industrial park cost in total 1.970 M€.

Opened as a 50/50 joint venture, its initial purpose was to assemble a communal-designed MPV model sold under three marques: Volkswagen Sharan, SEAT Alhambra, and Ford Galaxy. Producing these vehicles, Volkswagen Autoeuropa almost reached its production limit of 172,500 units per year.

However, when Ford left the joint venture and the model life-cycle approached its end, Volkswagen took ownership of the plant and production declined considerably. Under Volkswagen's internal bidding system, the plant had to compete for new models with other Volkswagen plants, while threatening to close the plant and to give concessions to the workers and the State.

Eventually, AutoEuropa won the production rights of the new convertible/coupé-only Volkswagen Eos from late 2005, producing just 79,896 vehicles of the original models plus the Eos. In 2008 the plant started production of the third generation Volkswagen Scirocco, and presently employs 3,000 people on site, 2,350 supplier jobs on the industrial park, and an additional 3,750 supplier jobs within Portugal.

As the existing models come to the end of their life cycles, the plant will need to compete for new models from 2010 onwards. It was proposed that in 2009 to prepare the production line for the replacement, although the Great Recession delayed that model.

On July 1, 2013, car number 2,000,000 rolled off the assembly line, a Volkswagen Sharan 2.0 TDI Highline.

In December 2016, the plant won the production rights for the new compact crossover, Volkswagen T-Roc.

In March 2020, SEAT Alhambra is discontinued, and was followed in October 2022 by the final Sharan leaving the assembly line, leaving the T-Roc as the main product.

Autoeuropa was selected for the production of the 2025 hybrid replacement to the T-Roc and will attract €600 million investment from Volkswagen.

Production

Production by model

Current production

• Volkswagen T-Roc (Nov, 2017–present)

Former production

• Ford Galaxy Mk1 (May, 1995 - Feb, 2006)
• SEAT Alhambra Mk1 (1996 - 2010)
• Volkswagen Sharan Mk1 (May, 1995 - 2010)
• Volkswagen Eos (2006 - Jun, 2015)
• Volkswagen Scirocco Mk3 (Jun, 2008 - Oct, 2017)
• SEAT Alhambra Mk2 (2010 - 2020)
• Volkswagen Sharan Mk2 (2010 - 2022)

References

1. "FORD AND VW END MINIVAN PARTNERSHIP". Automotive News Europe. 12 October 1998. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
2. "Volkswagen Autoeuropa Lda". Volkswagen Newsroom. Retrieved 2020-08-19.
3. "VW AutoEuropa History of Volkswagen Autoeuropa". volkswagenautoeuropa.pt. Archived from the original on 17 May 2014. Retrieved 1 July 2015.
4. "VW Autoeuropa garante produção nos próximos 5 anos - Expresso.pt". Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
5. "Volkswagen Autoeuropa atinge 2 milhões de unidades" (PDF) (in Portuguese). volkswagenautoeuropa.pt. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
6. "Volkswagen Autoeuropa celebra 25 Anos" (PDF) (in Portuguese). volkswagenautoeuropa.pt. Retrieved 27 January 2018.
7. "Seat Alhambra discontinued".
8. "Seat MPV discontinued". 27 March 2020.
9. "Last VW Sharan to come off AutoEuropa production line". Portugal Resident. 14 October 2022. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
10. "VW plant to produce new hybrid to replace T-Roc in 2025". Econews.pt. 5 June 2023. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
11. "Volkswagen Autoeuropa Lda". Volkswagen Newsroom. Retrieved 29 February 2024.
12. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-08-29. Retrieved 2017-08-28.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
13. "VW Autoeuropa garante produção nos próximos 5 anos - Expresso.pt". Archived from the original on 2009-01-31. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
14. "Oje - o Jornal Economico - Negócios - Autoeuropa produz mais carros em 2008 face a 2007". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
15. "Jornal de Negócios Online". Archived from the original on 2009-06-20. Retrieved 2018-07-28.
16. "Oje - o Jornal Economico - Negócios - Autoeuropa reduz produção no primeiro trimestre de 2009". Archived from the original on 2011-10-07. Retrieved 2009-06-14.
17. http://economia.publico.clix.pt/noticia.aspx?id=1357702
18. "Volkswagen Konzern - AR 2016 - Volkswagen Passenger Cars". annualreport2016.volkswagenag.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
19. "Volkswagen Konzern - AR 2014 - Volkswagen Passenger Cars". annualreport2014.volkswagenag.com. Retrieved 2017-08-29.
20. "Annual Reports". Retrieved 2018-03-16.

External links

• AutoEuropa plant website

v t e Volkswagen passenger cars
A marque of the Volkswagen Group See also: Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles
Current vehicles	Cars Arteon/CC Bora Golf ID.3 ID.7 Jetta/Sagitar/Vento Lamando Lavida Passat/Magotan Polo Virtus / Polo Sedan / Lavida XR SUVs/ crossovers Atlas/Teramont ID.4 ID.5 ID.6 T-Cross / Tacqua / Tharu XR / Taigun T-Roc Taigo/Nivus Talagon Taos/Tharu Tavendor Tayron Tiguan Touareg MPVs ID. Buzz Touran Viloran
Discontinued vehicles	Aircooled 181 411/412 (Type 4) 1500/1600 (Type 3) Beetle (Type 1) Brasília Country Buggy/Sakbayan Gacel Hebmüller Cabriolet Karmann Ghia Kommandeurswagen Kübelwagen Schwimmwagen Senda SP1/SP2 Type 18A Type 147 (Fridolin) VW-Porsche 914 Watercooled Ameo Apollo Atlantic Beetle C-Trek Cabrio Cabriolet Carat Caribe Citi Golf (China) Citi Golf (South Africa) Clásico Corrado Corsar Dasher Derby Eos Fox Gol Golf Plus Golf Sportsvan Iltis K70 Logus Lupo New Beetle Parati Passat Lingyu Passat (North America) Phaeton Phideon Pointer Polo Playa Polo (Russia) Quantum Rabbit Routan Santana Scirocco Sharan SpaceCross Suran/SpaceFox Taro Up Vento/Polo Sedan Voyage/Gol Sedan XL1
Concept vehicles	1-Litre/L1/XL1 Concept Alltrack Concept ARVW Auto 2000 Bio Runner BUDD-e Bulli Concept C Coupe GTE Chico Concept A Concept BlueSport Concept D Concept R CrossBlue Concept Cross Coupe GTE concept EcoRacer EDAG Biwak (New Beetle estate) GTI Roadster/Supersport Vision Gran Turismo GX3 ID.2all I.D. Buggy I.D. Buzz I.D. Crozz I.D. R I.D. Roomzz I.D. Space Vizzion ID. Vizzion ID. Life ID. Aero ID.Next Iroc Magellan Microbus Concept Milano Taxi New Beetle Ragster New Compact Coupé Phaeton D2 Concept SMV Concept Stanley T-Cross Breeze Concept T-Roc Concept T-Prime Concept GTE Taigun Concept Tarok Concept Touran HyMotion W12 Coupe/Roadster (Nardò) XL Sport Concept e-Beetle Concept
Racing cars	Polo R WRC I.D. R Formula Vee EMPI Imp Baja Bug Meyers Manx Race Touareg
Engines	Petrol engines Discontinued petrol engines G40 / G60 VR6 engine Diesel engines Discontinued diesel engines North American engines Air-cooled engine Wasserboxer
Factories	Autoeuropa Bratislava Chattanooga Transparent Factory Westmoreland Wolfsburg Zwickau
Related	List of passenger cars Emissions scandal 4Motion Advertising AutoMuseum Volkswagen BlueMotion Ehra-Lessien Deutsche Arbeitsfront G-Lader Herbie Platforms Volkswagen R Westfalia Camper
Category

v t e SEAT S.A.
Established 1950, a subsidiary of the Volkswagen Group since 1980s
SEAT models	Current Cars Ibiza León Crossovers/SUVs Arona Ateca Discontinued 1400 1500 600 800 850 850 Coupé 850 Sport Spider 124 124 Sport 127 128 1430 1200 Sport 1430 Sport 131 132 133 Alhambra Altea Arosa Córdoba Exeo Fura Inca Málaga Marbella Mii Panda Terra Trans Ritmo Ronda Tarraco Toledo Concepts 20V20 Bolero Fórmula Salsa Salsa Emoción Arosa Racer Tango Cupra GT Proto C Proto T Proto TL Concepto T Altea Prototipo Bocanegra Tribu León Twin Drive IBE Concept IBL Concept Toledo Concept Minimó
Cupra models	Current Cars Born León Crossovers/SUVs Ateca Formentor Tavascan Terramar Upcoming Raval Concepts UrbanRebel Concept Tavascan Extreme E Concept Tavascan Concept Formentor Concept e-Racer Concept
People	José Ortiz-Echagüe Bernd Pischetsrieder Luca de Meo Carsten Isensee
SEAT FIA Championship motorsport titles	FIA 2 Litre World Rally Championship (1996, 1997, 1998) FIA World Touring Car Championship (2008 & 2009)
Related topics	List of SEAT vehicles EcoMotive MultiFuel Driver Steering Recommendation Formula 1430 Instituto Nacional de Industria Cupra Racing SEAT León Eurocup SEAT León Supercopa List of Volkswagen Group factories List of Volkswagen Group platforms List of Volkswagen Group petrol engines discontinued List of Volkswagen Group diesel engines discontinued
Category

v t e Automotive industry in Portugal
Automotive industry Economy of Portugal Transportation in Portugal
Active Manufacturers	AJP MOBIpeople Salvador Caetano VE Retrosport
Defunct manufacturers	Bravia Casal Edfor Entreposto FAMEL IMA Marlei Portaro SIS UMM UTIC
Active Factories	AutoEuropa Mitsubishi Fuso Tramagal Factory PSA Mangualde Plant Renault Cacia
Defunct Factories	General Motors Azambuja Factory Isuzu Vendas Novas Factory Renault Guarda Factory Renault Setubal Factory
Foreign companies with operations	Ford Portugal Volkswagen Group Portugal Marcopolo
Related topics	Motorshow Porto Portugal Classic Cars Euro NCAP

• Motor vehicle assembly plants in Portugal
• Car manufacturers of Portugal
• Volkswagen Group factories
• Former joint ventures