PRAGUE (Reuters) – Volkswagen will need more time to decide where to locate a gigafactory for producing electric car batteries in eastern Europe, the head of the carmaker’s Czech unit Skoda Auto was quoted as saying on Monday.
Volkswagen said in December it was postponing the decision beyond 2022, pointing to economic uncertainty and high energy prices in the region. The Czech Republic has been one of the locations considered for this investment.
“Czechia has a great position among the candidate countries to get the gigafactory. However, it is needed to wait now to see what the so-called new Green Deal (planned in the European Union) will bring,” Skoda Auto chairman Klaus Zellmer was quoted as saying by Czech news agency CTK.
“The (Volkswagen) group has to evaluate it also with regard to subsidies and investment incentives,” Zellmer said.
Volkswagen has been also looking at locations in Hungary, Poland and Slovakia for the gigafactory.
(Reporting by Robert Muller; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
