WEG Builds for Europe From Turkey, in Two Separate Projects
BRAZIL · COMPANIES
Key Facts
- —Two projects WEG has a 28 million euro gearbox plant under construction in Manisa and a motor line running in Izmir. They are not the same thing.
- —The factory Announced in December 2024, 12,000 square metres, 150 jobs, due to start operating in 2027.
- —The motors A new aluminium motor line at the former Volt Electric Motor plant in Izmir, serving European customers.
- —The speed WEG says it delivers to European customers in seven to ten days, with production lead times of four to six weeks.
- —The scale About 2,000 motors a day in Izmir, an annual capacity near one million units.
- —The acquisition WEG bought Volt Electric Motor in September 2024 for 88 million dollars.
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A motor maker from Santa Catarina is now building for Europe from Turkey. The reason is distance, not cost.
WEG is investing 28 million euros in a gearbox factory in Manisa, Turkey, and separately running a new motor line in Izmir for European customers. Reporting has tended to merge the two.
The Factory
The 28 million euro investment was announced in December 2024. It covers a new plant at Manisa, about 35 kilometres from Izmir, of 12,000 square metres.
It will make industrial gear reducers, not motors. Operations are expected to start in 2027.
It adds 150 jobs. WEG then employed about 750 people in Turkey.
The plant is designed to work alongside WEG’s Austrian gearbox operation and its Turkish motor manufacturing. The company said the move reinforces its strategy of positioning itself as a leader in integrated industrial solutions.
The Motors
Separately, WEG has brought a new aluminium motor line into production at the former Volt Electric Motor plant in Izmir, a site of 60,000 square metres.
Full-scale production is running for frame sizes up to 132, with sizes 160, 180 and 200 in preparation.
Output runs at about 2,000 motors a day, an annual capacity near one million units. More than 600 WEG specialists work in Izmir.
Bilal Serefhanoglu, marketing and export sales manager at WEG Turkey, said speed and logistics are the main advantages of Turkey.
The company quotes seven to ten days for delivery to European customers, against production lead times of four to six weeks.
One Date Worth Correcting
Some coverage dates WEG’s acquisition of Volt Electric Motor to 2019. That is wrong.
WEG announced the purchase on 12 September 2024 for 88 million dollars, about 492 million reais. The Izmir site covers 27,000 square metres with capacity for a million motors a year, up to 450 kilowatts.
Some coverage also treats the 28 million euros as cumulative modernisation spending at Izmir. The December 2024 sourcing is specific and consistent: it is a new gearbox plant at Manisa.
WEG has been in Turkey for more than 20 years and opened an electric motor factory at Dilovasi, near Istanbul, in 2022.
The Company
WEG is based in Jaragua do Sul, Santa Catarina, founded in 1961, with about 40,000 employees and subsidiaries in 37 countries.
It makes electric motors, industrial automation and control, generators, gearboxes, transformers, switchgear, battery storage systems, wind and steam turbines, drives, and coatings.
Its European and Turkish manufacturing spans Portugal, Austria, Germany, Turkey and the Netherlands.
Second-quarter net profit was 1.559 billion reais, down 2.1 percent, on net revenue of 10.143 billion, down 0.6 percent. The company attributed part of the revenue pressure to a weaker dollar cutting the real value of foreign earnings.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is WEG building in Turkey?
A 28 million euro gearbox factory at Manisa, announced in December 2024 and due to open in 2027, adding 150 jobs.
Is that the same as the new motors?
No. The motors come from the former Volt Electric Motor plant in Izmir, a separate site WEG bought in September 2024.
Why Turkey?
Speed and logistics. WEG quotes seven to ten day delivery to European customers from Izmir.
What does WEG make?
Electric motors, industrial automation, generators, gearboxes, transformers, switchgear, battery storage, turbines, drives and coatings, from Jaragua do Sul in Santa Catarina.
Sources: WEG announcements, NSC Total, Cenario Energia, Money Times, Exame, InfoMoney, Status Invest.
This article was produced by The Rio Times’ automated newsroom system. How we use AI · Report an error · Editorial responsibility: Matthias Camenzind, Editor-in-Chief