Germany's heavyweights in the automotive industry, the Volkswagen Group and Mercedes-Benz, want to work more closely with Canada in the future. During the visit of Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) to Canada, both companies signed declarations of intent on electromobility in Toronto on August 23.

According to the MoU, Volkswagen AG, together with the Canadian government, wants to promote e-mobility in Canada. It had previously become known that the VW Group intends to invest in Canadian mines in the future to secure raw materials for electric cars. “Canada has practically all the raw materials that we need for battery production,” said Thomas Schmall, member of the Volkswagen AG Board of Management responsible for Technology.

Mercedes announced their interest in deepening collaboration across the automotive value chain and driving commercial opportunity within Canada's electric vehicle supply chain. This includes, among other things, access to primary raw material sources.
As part of a planned partnership with Rock Tech Lithium, Mercedes-Benz and its battery partners are to be supplied with up to 10,000 tons of lithium hydroxide per year. The intended cooperation should start in 2026 and will mark a decisive step for the supply of high-quality lithium to be processed in Germany, according to Mercedes. From 2024, the Canadian raw materials company Rock Tech Lithium wants to produce battery-capable lithium hydroxide for electric cars in Guben, Brandenburg. One future potential customer of Rock Tech Lithium is only 1.5 hours away from the 470 million euro factory in Brandenburg: Tesla's Gigafactory in Berlin-Brandenburg.