Preparations for Volkswagen's New Small Family in Bratislava Now Well Under Way

BRATISLAVA, SLOVAKIA – July 22, 2010; The preparations for the production of New Small Family vehicle series in the Bratislava plant of Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) are progressing at full speed. The company has recently celebrated the roofing of the new annex building to the paint shop, capacity of which will reach up to 600 painted car bodies daily.

“With the costs of approximately EUR 100 million, the extension of the current paint shop with a new annex building represents the biggest and technologically most comprehensive investment within the preparations for the production of New Small Family,” said Andreas Tostmann, Chairman of the Management Board of VW SK, in his thank-you speech to all who are participating in its construction. The next phase will involve installation of technologies, of which many represent the world’s state-of-the-art technologies that are available in the field of paintwork. For example, the dry particle separator, which reduces the emissions by up to 90% and lowers the energy consumption by up to 80%, has not been installed yet in mass production conditions anywhere in the world. At the same time, it will enable the performance of painting works without constructing a separate chimney. This technology will be deployed in mass production for the first time in the Bratislava plant of VW SK. Other top technologies include, for instance, a fully automatic spraying line and the most modern, environmentally-friendly car body surface finish using Process 2010 technology, providing a reduction of vehicle weight by 0.5 kg.

The construction works and installations of technologies for the production of New Small Family (NSF) vehicle series will continue even during the company-wide vacations at the turn of July and August. During this period, approximately 320 employees of Volkswagen Slovakia (VW SK) and contractors will participate in these works. In total, up to 1 800 people will be involved in the construction and technology works under NSF project. With New Small Family, the annual production capacity of VW SK will increase to 400 000 vehicles. The total investments associated with NSF production will reach EUR 308 million. The production of NSF will create approximately 1 500 new jobs in the company. The first vehicles of the new NSF model series will leave the factory in 2011. The Volkswagen, Seat and Škoda models will be available in 3-door and 5-door variants. The Bratislava factory of VW SK will also become a world rarity with five vehicle brands produced “under one roof”.