Reyes Maroto is convinced that the confirmation of the historical investment of Seat-VW marks a turning point, not only for this group, but also that it will attract new investments from the motor industry to Spain. She cannot avoid, however, "a bittersweet taste" due to the overall result of Perte, since only 30% of the planned aid has been awarded.
The CEO of Seat has confirmed the investment but has warned that they will seek new solutions. Does that mean that they are still negotiating other ways of helping?
The announcement is very satisfactory because we were worried. We have reinforced the investment project with the Volkswagen group. As they themselves said, their expectations were higher, but this Perte line had its complications when evaluating some projects. Now we already have an agreement with the group for a project that is financed in one year, but rather has a horizon of four or five years. We are going to continue working with the group so that the project develops with all the guarantees. This is how we are going to do with the ten projects that have been approved with the Perte.
What types of aid are studied?
First we are going to finance the ten approved projects with the planned amounts. The next thing is to continue protecting these projects so that they develop and complement them, for example, with training aid through the academy that we are preparing with the European Battery Alliance. And the new investment projects that appear may have additional financing.
Can you quantify the new aid that Seat-Volkswagen could have?
It is not wise to do it now. The most important thing is that the decision (on the investment plan) gives confidence and certainty. It marks a turning point because incorporating a gigafactory was essential for us to talk about leadership in electric mobility in Europe. This project is going to attract other actors who are now making investment decisions. We have to meet the milestone of stopping selling combustion cars by 2035 and that speeds up decisions. Confidence has been given to the industry to be able to invest in Spain and build a change or mobility agenda in our country.
Are you referring to the Chery implantation?
Well, I'm cautious about giving names. There are names that are known, such as Envision, which has been left out of the Perte and has planned significant investments in Spain. We are giving continuity to this project so that it can be carried out on the second line (of the Perte). We are also talking with Ford, who renounced aid because the execution of his projects was slower than what we offered in the investment calendar. Also with Stellantis, which has to decide at a European level where to deploy the new electrification platforms. Another project that is also known is that of Switch to make electric buses in Valladolid. They are actors who are now talking with us and with the autonomous communities.
Is there good coordination with the Generalitat?
Very good with the Minister of Business and Labor Roger Torrent, who is the one I coordinate with. He has been good with Seat and is also being seen at the Nissan reindustrialization table.
In any case, Perte seems like a failure because only 30% of the planned aid has been awarded. What happened?
We put a great ambition with funds for almost 3,000 million because when you want to make an important change you have to allocate public resources. Indeed, we now have a bittersweet taste for the overall result, but we have found ourselves with the limits established by the European Commission for this aid framework. This is what we now want to correct and we hope that in the second line of Perte the parameters will be more flexible. They are talking to the European Commission. At this time when we have to face the consequences of the war, we cannot stop financing investments.
For example, could aid be given to manufacture hybrid cars?
It is a demand of the Renault group and it will have to be discussed with the European Commission. The ambition is to make a change towards electric mobility, but it is also true that there are some manufacturers that propose a slower transition.
