Seat has approved an investment of 300 million euros for the construction of a battery cell assembly plant at its factory in Martorell (Barcelona). This sum is in addition to the amount made public in May 2022, when the company announced a joint mobilisation with the Volkswagen Group totalling 10 billion euros for the electrification of all its facilities in Spain.

What was heralded as “the largest industrial investment in the history of Spain” a year ago is thereby set to grow even more with the addition of a new battery cell assembly facility to the plan. It will also serve the battery gigafactory that the group is building in Sagunto (Valencia). This new amount has been included in the second call for proposals under the Strategic Project for the Recovery and Economic Transformation of the Electric and Connected Vehicle (PERTE VEC), related to batteries.

Job creation
SEAT president Wayne Griffiths described this decision as “very important, because we are taking another step forward in our electrification plan”. He explained that the project will have a major impact, creating more than 400 direct jobs and more than 100 indirect jobs. The facility will cover an area of 64,000 square metres, equivalent to around nine football pitches.

“This facility is fundamental for our company and will also provide the impulse to obtain a second platform in Martorell”, explained Griffiths. The new plant will indeed be connected to Workshop 10, “Where we will manufacture some of the Volkswagen Group's electric cars, including the CUPRA Raval. This will help us optimise logistical processes and reduce our carbon footprint”, he added

A key moment
Construction work is due to start in the next few weeks, and is scheduled for completion in 2025. According to Griffiths, “This is a key moment for our industry”. This is why Seat and the Volkswagen Group “are committing major resources to achieving sustainable mobility. And to continue advancing our ambition to turn Spain into a hub for electric mobility in Europe”.

The president of Seat pointed out that Spanish and European institutions “also have to be convinced and come on board. As in other countries, a legal framework must be created to ensure investment in the industry and boost competitiveness”. In this respect, he values the steps taken in Spain positively in terms of public-private collaboration, which he deems “essential to accelerate the transformation”.

Seat and the Volkswagen Group obtained 397 million euros in the first call of the PERTE VEC, 213 million of which is a direct subsidy, and with the rest being delivered through loans. Construction began last March on the Valencia cell factory, which is expected to be operational in 2026 and to create 3,000 direct jobs.

^{Photo: Seat}