The European Investment Bank (EIB) is providing EUR 76.4 million to VW Argentina, S.A. to finance the modernisation and expansion of the company’s Córdoba plant. The finance contract was signed by EIB Vice-President Magdalena Álvarez and Volkswagen Argentina’s CEO, Victor Klima.
This loan will help to finance the refurbishment, upgrading and expansion of VW Argentina’s Córdoba plant to accommodate the production of fuel-efficient MQ200 gearboxes for VW’s small/medium segment vehicles assembled in the region, mainly Argentina and Brazil. The project comprises the construction of a new production plant and an additional assembly line enabling an increase in output of 1 500 units per day. The plant will include new machining facilities and new generation low pressure heat treatment furnaces replacing the existing gas-based system.
This operation is aimed at meeting current demand for VW’s small and medium-sized vehicles in the Latin American market, so helping to speed up the replacement of older and more polluting vehicles in the region. The project will also foster Argentina’s economic development by creating an estimated 565 direct jobs and 1 000 indirect jobs within the new supplier base in the Córdoba region. Project completion is scheduled for 2012.
The EIB is granting this loan under the current Latin America mandate enabling it to finance: i) operations supporting the EU’s presence in the region through direct investment and/or know-how and technology transfer; and ii) climate change mitigation projects.
Background information:
The European Investment Bank (EIB) is the EU’s long-term financing institution promoting European objectives. Created in 1958, it operates in the 27 EU Member States and more than 130 other countries in Asia and Latin America, central and eastern Europe, the Balkans, the Mediterranean and Africa, the Caribbean and the Pacific. Its lending operations outside the European Union form part of the Union’s policy of cooperation with those countries.
The EIB has been providing loans in Asia and Latin America since 1993 under three successive mandates. Under the current ALA IV mandate for the period 2007-2013, it is authorised to lend up to EUR 3.8 billion. This breaks down into indicative amounts of EUR 2.8 billion for Latin America and EUR 1 billion for Asia.