Volvo Cars, owned by Geely, has entered into a memorandum of understanding with Belgium’s federal authorities and the regional government of Flanders regarding support measures for its Ghent manufacturing plant.
Under the agreement, the parties have set out a proposed support package worth as much as €119m ($136.3m).
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The measures would span industrial, innovation and environmental projects, as well as financing schemes and other associated forms of assistance.
The package is intended to provide Volvo Cars with greater scope to make strategic investments aimed at reinforcing Ghent’s role as a major production hub.
Combined with the company’s own internal efforts to improve efficiency, the support is expected to enhance the long-term competitiveness of Volvo Car Gent, help safeguard future production volumes and maintain manufacturing operations at the site.
Belgium Prime Minister Bart De Wever said: “This MoU helps secure the future of the Ghent plant and anchor advanced vehicle manufacturing in Belgium for the long term.”
Volvo Car Gent, a unit of the Swedish Volvo Car based in Gothenburg, is one of the automaker’s two production plants in Europe.
Employing more than 6,300 people, the Ghent operation is the biggest industrial employer in Flanders. In 2025, the plant built 212,177 vehicles.
The site currently manufactures the XC40, EX40, EC40, V60 and the newly introduced all-electric EX30.
Ghent has been producing Volvo’s first fully electric vehicle since 2020, when it was launched as the XC40 Recharge before being renamed the EX40 in 2024.
A second all-electric model joined production in 2021, the C40, which was rebranded as the EC40 in 2024.
The deal may also create opportunities beyond Volvo Cars’ own model line-up, opening the possibility for the Ghent facility to carry out contract manufacturing for other automotive brands.
That would improve capacity utilisation at the plant and support higher industrial activity in the wider local area.
Volvo Cars president and CEO Håkan Samuelsson added: “Volvo Car Gent is a highly capable plant with an experienced team. With these necessary improvements in competitiveness, we are strengthening its future as a car plant in Belgium.”
Separately, Volvo Cars secured authorisation in the US in May under the ICTS Connected Vehicles Rule, allowing it to keep importing and selling connected vehicles there.
The approval came after Volvo Car USA completed a required review with the US Department of Commerce.
That same month, Volvo Cars and Google unveiled a Gemini vehicle-camera integration in the EX60 at the Google I/O conference.
According to Volvo, the demonstration points toward a future capability in which Gemini, with driver consent, could interpret the car’s surroundings in real time.
