The factory is more than 95% ready, and with mass production of the new-generation Volkswagen Crafter planned to begin in the second half of 2016. Volkswagen Crafter is the biggest vehicle
in the commercial vehicles brand offer, which is why the whole factory and production line are being specially equipped and prepared to meet this challenge.

Construction of the factory, in which the new-generation Volkswagen Crafter will be manufactured, is running according to plan. On the factory grounds a modern Body Construction Hall, Paint Shop, Assembly Hall, Suppliers Park, Special Vehicles Department and Pilot Production Department will operate.

“The new Volkswagen Crafter will be an entirely new construction, fully developed, designed and implemented by the Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles brand. This car will be of a totally new quality and will present a completely different, higher level of refinement and craftsmanship in the field of delivery vans,” says Jens Ocksen, President of Volkswagen Poznań.

The new Volkswagen Crafter, whose target production volume is 100,000 vehicles yearly, will be produced in over 50 variants. All details of the concept for the interior of the car were consulted with customers. In this way, the solutions applied are optimally suited to the needs of users and the businesses they run. Customers will be able to choose any colour, tailored to their needs.

“In the design of the Crafter we’ve put in many innovative solutions. Yet we aren’t just going to produce it in a modern way, according to the state of the art, but also ecologically,” says Ralf Nitzschke, Director of the Crafter Plan in Września.

The factory will include a new paint process which will not require the use of enormous quantities of water - which will produce a decisive reduction in water use and in the amount of waste generated by the plant. The new paint technology is based on the latest method of electrostatic application, thanks to which particles of paint ‘stick’ to a painted surface. In the welding shop, there will be almost 500 robots of the newest generation, including using a low-emission laser technique. In this way, the degree of automation attained will be 62 per cent. In the VW Crafter plant, special laser technologies will also be employed to join the roof of the car with the rest of the structure and guarantee incredible precision and durability of the connection. Whereas in assembly there is an automated wooden floor construction installation and a uniform system for controlling production in all areas.

Work in the factory on the Volkswagen Crafter model is planned to be carried on in three shifts, and over 3,000 workers will be employed there. 17 cars per hour will be manufactured, which is 380 per day. The estimated production volume can be as high as 100,000 cars.