The European Commission approved a 267 million euro aid plan to support Volvo's electric car production

On April 8th, the European Commission approved Slovakia's plan of €267 million state aid for Volvo Cars. The plan aims to subsidize Volvo's new electric car factory in Valašské Meziříčí in the form of grants. The factory will mainly produce passenger cars and is planned to start mass production in 2026 with an annual capacity of 250,000 vehicles. Volvo Cars will invest over €1.2 billion on this project. SMM believes that due to the current competition among other major producing countries to subsidise the electric vehicle industry, the EU will further relax the relevant restrictions on state aid and may introduce more measures to encourage European and overseas companies to set up production capacity for electric vehicles and related products in Europe.