Volkswagen to sell its Slovak plant in Martin to MAN

The Volkswagen Group has decided to sell its plant in the Slovak city of Martin. According to the Slovak news outlet SME, the buyer is expected to be MAN, which, like Volkswagen itself, belongs to the Volkswagen Group. This means the plant will stay within the group but change hands and switch its production focus.

Over the past quarter of a century, Volkswagen has invested more than €320 million (roughly 7.8 billion CZK) in the Martin plant. Until now, it has produced components for passenger cars, but production is set to be reoriented towards truck parts — MAN's core area of business.

What happens to the workers?

According to available information, both German companies are keen to preserve jobs for all 700 current employees at the plant. However, according to the Deník N, a final decision on the plant's future role within the MAN structure is still being worked out.

Earlier reports had suggested that the initial plans for the changes could involve cutting the workforce by half.

Why Slovakia has become too expensive

The sale fits into Volkswagen's broader anti-crisis strategy, aimed at halting the decline in sales and profits across Europe and countering pressure from cheaper Chinese electric vehicles.

It's a worrying sign that the group isn't simply scaling back production of gearbox and suspension components for passenger cars, but is instead relocating it to other countries, including China. This suggests that Slovakia is becoming too costly a location for this type of manufacturing.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz