VW Commercial Vehicles expands plant in Poland for next e-Crafter

The foundation stone for the new halls is scheduled to be laid in November 2025, with completion planned for 2027, according to the company. The Września plant is officially operated by Volkswagen Poznań and will celebrate its tenth anniversary in 2026. The VW Crafter van and its sister model, the MAN TGE, are manufactured there, as are their electric versions, the eCrafter and eTGE. The smaller VW Caddy (without an MAN counterpart) is also manufactured there.

According to its own statements, Volkswagen Poznań has all the necessary approvals to begin the expansion of the plant, so nothing should stand in the way of the foundation stone being laid next month. “The Września plant is one of the most modern facilities in the Volkswagen Group and the only location where we produce both the Crafter and the MAN TGE,” says Stefan Mecha, CEO of the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand. “Expanding production for the next generation of our all-electric Crafter is the next logical step in electrifying our lineup. This new electric generation will further strengthen our position in the commercial vehicle segment.”

According to Stefanie Hegels, CEO of Volkswagen Poznań, a “modern body shop and a battery warehouse will be built, tailored to the production requirements of the new generation of the electric Crafter.” However, the company has not disclosed how large the two new buildings will be. It is also unclear what production capacity the facilities for the new electric transporters will be designed for. Only the total area of the plant, which is around 220 hectares (comparable to the size of 300 football pitches), the number of around 9,000 employees and the highly automated production with over 1,300 robots are mentioned – but it is not specified how these figures will change with the newly announced expansion.

Piotr Olbryś, chairman of the Solidarność trade union at Volkswagen Poznań, sees the decision as a “clear signal to our employees.” “The production of next-generation electric vehicles is a vital step in developing competencies that will help secure jobs in the future,” said the trade unionist.

According to VWCV, production in Września is powered exclusively by green energy. A photovoltaic system with a capacity of 18.3 MW is installed on the site, covering around 25 per cent of the plant’s annual electricity requirements. In good weather conditions, the PV system can even supply the plant entirely.

Update 26 November 2025

A few weeks after the announcement, Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles laid the foundation stone for the plant expansion in Września. Two new production halls with a total area of around 60,000 square metres are being built on the site. One hall will in future produce the platform for the chassis of the new eCrafter, supported by 150 new robots for welding, bonding and assembly processes. The second hall will serve as a battery storage and logistics area and will be equipped with charging points for electric HGVs as well as an AI-supported camera system for battery inspection, according to VWCV. The expansion of the production halls is scheduled for completion during 2027.

The plant, which opened in 2016, currently builds the VW Crafter (including the Grand California camper) and the MAN TGE, which is identical in construction to the Crafter. Around 3,000 employees can produce up to 450 vehicles a day, with a record of 103,000 units set in 2024. At present, only combustion models roll off the line in Września: the eCrafter and eTGE electric vans offered in the meantime have been discontinued – but are expected to return in the next generation.

vwn-presse.de, vwn-presse.de (update)

This article was first published by Sebastian Schaal for electrive’s German edition.