Germany’s Volkswagen invests $1.4 bln in battery-driven autos plant

German automaker Volkswagen (VW), a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group, is injecting 1.2 billion euros ($1.4 billion) in a factory in Zwickau, eastern Germany, to increase capacity to 330,000 battery-driven autos by the end of next year.

Together with the other two plants and one in China, VW will be able to produce a million of battery-driven autos every year, for brands including Audi, Skoda, Seat or Porsche.

The new plants will usher VW into the electric age. Once it’s restructured, the Emden plant will be able to handle 300,000 e-vehicles per year.

VW’s Chinese joint venture SAIC Volkswagen is also building an electric-car plant in Anting, near Shanghai, which will be able to make 300,000 e-vehicles per year from 2020.