Portugal Case study 1 - Volkswagen Autoeuropa

Abstract

key player in the national context In 1995, Volkswagen moved into Portugal with the opening of an automotive production plant, Volkswagen Autoeuropa. Located in Palmela, in the district of Setúbal (about 30 km from Lisbon and 10 km from the port of Setúbal), the plant entered production in May 1995. Autoeuropa still represents the largest foreign investment ever made in Portugal, generating a significant impact on the national and regional economy and estimated to represent 1.6% of the national GDP1. A relevant case study Portuguese researchers have devoted a great deal of attention to the study of Autoeuropa, for example the works by Stoleroff and Casaca (1996), Correia (2000), Costa (2013) and Stoleroff and Chora (2017). Their interest is due, on the one hand, to the company’s technological innovation, employing the "kaizen" system and "lean production" in a country where industrial development is otherwise weak and Fordism predominates (Correia, 2000); on the other hand, to the exceptional nature of its labour relations system (Costa, 2013), which essentially derives from the group's strategy and contrasts with the pattern in which Portugal is commonly inserted characterised by centralized negotiation and weak worker representation at the company level – although there is no co-determination in the Portuguese plant.