Spain: Audi awards the professional of the new Q3 to the Martorell factory near Barcelona

However, the battle was even more complicated with competition from other factories in Eastern Europe with much lower costs. There were talks about the factory of Bratislava in Slovakia, Gyor in Hungary and Ingolstadt in Germany, among others. Unions say that, on the evidence of the internal communiqué, the production of this new model represents an investment of over €300 million which should be covered by public aid from the Catalonian government (up to €200 million) on the one hand and from the central government on the other, with the Council of Ministers approving, last week, a new assistance package for the car industry. The production of the Q3 will begin in February 2011 and help save 1,500 jobs. For weeks, an endless trial of strength was opposing the management of the German group and the Catalonian government which was trying to save the site threatened by Seat’s dropping sales. The company also demanded active involvement of the employees and acceptance of a two-year wage freeze. This requirement divided unions. The UGT organized, alone, a referendum and a majority of employees validate a one-year wage freeze (see our dispatch No. 090321). Meanwhile, the group also underwent bitter negotiations with local and regional governments on the amount of public subsidies. This long transaction caused unrest and controversy in Catalonia where employers were wondering about the validity of assisting large foreign businesses like Volkswagen, at the risk of seeing them pack up later, while local SMEs are having the hardest of times getting loans.