Alfonso Sancha, the vice president of acquisitions at Seat, spoke today about Volkswagen group’s ambition for its Sagunt gigafactory to become the largest facility of its kind within Europe. During a presentation to the Valencian Business Confederation, Sancha outlined the project to the regional business community and invited local participation. He emphasized the goal of establishing Valencia as a battery cluster and urged suppliers from the Valencian Community to engage, presenting the German group as intent on becoming a truly Valencian company with broad local supplier involvement. Source: Valencia business briefing notes, attributed to the regional economic development office.
Sancha reiterated that production is slated to begin in 2026. He highlighted the positive impression left by the first meeting with Ximo Puig, head of the Generalitat, and noted an initial estimate that the Sagunt gigafactory would supply enough battery cells annually to support about 800,000 vehicles across the Volkswagen group brands, including Cupra and Skoda. He also warned that the facility would be designed to accommodate ongoing technological advances in battery production, ensuring it remains at the cutting edge rather than becoming obsolete. Source: regional economic update and company briefing.
Transformation of the Valencian economic landscape
Speaking on behalf of the Generalitat, the official highlighted the Generalitat’s obvious focus on this transformation and described Volkswagen’s arrival as a decisive turning point for the region. Puig stressed that the project represents a major opportunity when compared with the Ford footprint in the area from five decades earlier, signaling a new era for industrial development and energy transition in Valencia. Source: official remarks from the Valencian government press session.
The electric vehicle battery gigafactory is a high-value investment, with a total commitment of 3.5 billion euros. Volkswagen plans to invest 3.0 billion euros in the factory itself, while Iberdrola will contribute 500 million euros to a photovoltaic power plant and the necessary infrastructure to supply green power to the giga factory. The broader objective is to mobilize roughly 10 billion euros across Spain through the gigafactory project and the wider industrial shift toward electric mobility. Source: corporate and regional economic development summaries.
The Sagunt plant is planned to cover an area of about 200 hectares. The Generalitat has accelerated the governmental processes to ensure the Volkswagen battery factory in Sagunt is operational by 2026, aligning with broader energy and industrial strategies already underway across the community. Source: regional planning and economic strategy documents.