Volkswagen’s Autoeuropa unit in Portugal plans to double production to 800 vehicles a day by 2010, VW’s director general in Portugal, Joern Reimers, told a news agency on Wednesday.
VW will spend EUR541m ($795.7m) by the end of 2010 to enable its Autoeuropa plant, located about 60km south of Lisbon, to build new car models and increase its 2,990-strong labour force by 2,000 in the next three years, Reuters reported.
“We want a multi-product factory. I have no doubt that we will produce new products in the plant,” Reimers told the news agency.
Reuters suggested his comments would please the Portuguese government, which has provided Autoeuropa with tax breaks over the years to persuade VW to keep its unit in Portugal.
The Autoeuropa plant exports about 98% of its vehicles, which include the VW Eos coupe-convertible, and the Sharan and Seat Alhambra minivan twins.

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By GlobalDataThe plant, once a venture with Ford, which built its previous generation Galaxy minivan there, is expected to produce 100,000 vehicles in 2008, according to the report.