Volkswagen Autoeuropa, in Palmela (Setúbal district), will produce a new hybrid model from 2025, according to the management and communicated to workers at the weekend. The new cars will hit the market the following year, said general director Thomas Hegel Gunther to Público.

The brand registered the trade name ID.Roc, generating speculation that it would produce a fully electric car – something that the brand does not confirm –, but it is not yet known whether it will be a hybrid version (combustion engine plus electric battery) of the T-Roc, the only model that the factory in Palmela is currently producing, and which is the best-selling model of the brand in Europe, or if it will be another.

As of 2025, Autoeuropa's current production lines will be redirected to the new hybrid model and the version with an internal combustion engine will be residual. The German brand will spend 600 million euros on the new model, modernization and decarbonisation, 20% more than the 500 million announced a year and a half ago. But, at the end of the current decade, it will be necessary to decide where to make new investments for new models.