Autoeuropa to produce new VW electric low-cost car

Volkswagen has chosen Portugal’s Autoeuropa factory to produce its recently-presented VW iD.Every 1 – a compact electric city car which will sell for a starting price of €20,000.

The announcement was made by VW CEO, Thomas Schafer at a presentation with journalists in Wolfsburg according to the news agency Bloomberg.

Production on the model should begin within two years. The new car, still in its pre-production phase, is 3.88 metres long, has 305 litres of baggage space, and a maximum speed of 130 Km/hour with autonomy of at least 250 km before needing a recharge.

Autoeuropa, the largest car manufacturing factory in Portugal, which is currently focused on the exclusive production of the T-Roc (a SUV) that last year produced 236,023 vehicles from the plant in Palmela – the highest number in its history.

Volkswagen Autoeuropa is planning production on a new version of the T-Roc for the second half of this year including a hybrid propulsion model.

In 2027, VW will join Stellantis in the manufacture of a series of electric vehicles at the Stellantis factory in Mangualde.

In October last year Stellantis began manufacturing a series of 100% electric commercial vehicles and cars such as the Citroen e-Berlingo and e-Berlingo Van, Fiat e-Doblò, Opel Combo-e, and the Peugeot E-Partner and E-Rifter after an investment of €119 million obtained via the Mobilising Agendas (EU ‘bazooka’ RRP funds) for entrepreneurial innovation.

These two factories were responsible for 96.9% of the 332,546 vehicles produced in Portugal in 2024 – the second highest volume ever, only exceeded by the output in 2019 when production stood at 345,688 vehicles.