BRATISLAVA -- Volkswagen Group will invest 500 million euros to expand its Bratislava, Slovakia, factory as it prepares to add production of bodies for Bentley's new SUV.
VW will add a new car-body production line at the plant by 2017 and will create hundreds of new jobs, company spokesman Vladimir Machalik said on Thursday.
The automaker builds the VW Up, Skoda Citigo and Seat Mii minicars in the factory, along with the VW Touareg and Audi Q7 large SUVs and bodies for the Porsche Cayenne. The plant will add production of bodies for the Bentley Bentayga SUV that will go on sale next year.
A Bentley spokesman said the Bentayga bodies will be sent to the company's factory in Crewe, England, from Slovakia for final assembly. "Bratislava will build the raw bodies, everything else will be done in Crewe," the spokesman told Automotive News Europe.
Bentley is creating 300 jobs and investing 40 million pounds ($59 million) at its Crewe headquarters as it expands its model lineup to help almost double its annual vehicle sales to 20,000 by 2020 from a record 11,020 last year.
Reuters contributed to this report
