PARIS -- France beat out competition from Germany and the Netherlands for ProLogium's first overseas car battery plant with lobbying from President Emmanuel Macron, deal sweeteners and competitive power prices, executives from the Taiwanese company said.
After narrowing a list of countries down from 13 to three, ProLogium said it settled this week on the northern French port city of Dunkirk for its second gigafactory and first outside Taiwan.
With production slated to begin 2026, the supplier's factory will be the fourth battery plant in a northern France, adding to an emerging specialized cluster central to Europe's electric car industry.
Europe currently largely depends on batteries made in Asia for electric cars, and national leaders are offering various incentives to kick start the industry.
That has become more urgent since the United States last year passed its $430 billion Inflation Reduction Act, which includes major tax subsidies to cut carbon emissions while boosting domestic production and manufacturing.