Spain is talking with Mitsubishi Corporation about building a factory for electric car batteries in the northwestern town of Vigo, economy minister Elena Salgado said.
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The EUR400m (US$512m) plant could create around 1,500 jobs, Spanish newspapers reported, according to Reuters.
Mitsubishi and sister company Mitsubishi Motors operate a joint venture with GS Yuasa to develop and produce lithium-ion batteries for electric cars. The venture, Lithium Energy Japan, is 51% owned by Kyoto-based GS Yuasa.
Mitsubishi Corp director Mikio Sasaki met Spain’s prime minister Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero in Tokyo on Thursday. MMC has a broad-based tie-up with PSA Peugeot Citroen that includes a deal for the Japanese automaker to supply electric cars under the two French brands. Vigo is PSA’s biggest production site by volume.
A GS Yuasa spokeswoman said the company was considering various options for an overseas production site for automotive lithium-ion batteries, but that no decision had been made.
Mitsubishi Corp and Mitsubishi Motors spokesmen said they could not confirm or deny the talks with the Spanish government.
PSA chief executive Philippe Varin and his Mitsubishi Motors counterpart, Osamu Masuko, met in Vigo last week, a PSA spokesman confirmed.
Spanish paper Atlantico said the two discussed prospects for the battery plant but the PSA spokesman said they met as part of an deal signed in June to look into developing electric vehicle powertrains, initially for use on light commercial vehicles.
“So as part of that agreement the two presidents met to move things along … it was just to take stock of how it is progressing,” the spokesman said.
