VOLKWAGEN Slovakia laid the foundation stone for a new body shop at its factory in Bratislava that has a price tag of about €600 million and will cover about 110,000 square metres. The new shop will make innovative car bodies for SUVs from steel and aluminium, the SITA newswire reported.
When the body shop opens it should have about 550 employees.
The building of the body shop is only one part of Volkswagen’s plan to invest €1.5 billion in the Bratislava facility by 2016.
“It is the biggest investment project by Volkswagen Slovakia, comparable only to the preparations for production of SUV vehicles at the turn of the millennium,” stated Albrecht Reimold, the chairman of the firm’s board of directors, as quoted by SITA.
Prime Minister Robert Fico attended the laying of the foundation stone for the new body shop and said his government is willing to offer intensive help to foreign investors who bring various kinds of science and research to Slovakia.
