Volkswagen to convert iconic Dresden plant into innovation centre

Volkswagen's iconic "Transparent Factory" in  the eastern German city of Dresden is to be turned into an innovation campus, putting an end to vehicle production at the site whose walls are almost entirely made of glass.

Volkswagen said on Thursday it was planning a centre for various technologies, including artificial intelligence, robotics, microelectronics and chip design, with the city's Technical University (TU) to use half the floorspace in the plant.

Volkswagen and TU are to invest more than €50 million ($58 million) over the coming seven years.

"We have not taken the decision lightly to end vehicle production in the Transparent Factory after more than 20 years," Volkswagen Passenger Cars chief executive Thomas Schäfer said. "But it was urgently necessary from a business point of view," he added.

The parties had reached a memorandum of understanding on a viable concept for the future, Schäfer said.

Series production of the ID.3 electric car is to end at the plant in mid-December. The 230 workers are to retain their jobs in Dresden, with alternative employment offered or other arrangements made.

The Transparent Factory initially produced the upmarket Phaeton model until 2016, followed by the e-Golf. It is to be converted from January, but will continue to be a delivery point for new cars.