Volkswagen Group and its Chinese partner Gotion High-tech plan to jointly invest 3.22 billion euros (approximately $3.66 billion) to establish three electric vehicle battery production lines in Europe and North Africa, aiming to meet the growing global demand for EV batteries. These factories will be jointly owned by Volkswagen and Gotion High-tech, China's fourth-largest EV battery manufacturer, with an annual production capacity of 37.5 gigawatt-hours (GWh) of lithium-ion batteries and 100,000 tons of cathode materials. Gotion High-tech stated in an exchange filing on Monday that this move aligns with its overseas expansion strategy, aiming to solidify its position in the global EV battery market and deepen its long-term strategic partnership with Volkswagen. Among these projects, the EV factory project operated by PowerCo, a Volkswagen subsidiary in Valencia, Spain, involves a total investment of 2.26 billion euros, aiming to increase its annual battery production capacity to 29.1 GWh. Volkswagen currently holds a 24.3% stake in Gotion High-tech and plans to reduce its stake to 19% by selling 96 million shares to an investment company controlled by the Hefei municipal government, a transaction valued at 2.3 billion yuan (approximately $342.6 million).