Volkswagen Chattanooga Moving Forward
Wednesday May 27, 2009
Ceremonial wall raising at the factory that's to start making cars in early 2011...
To cross the finish line as the No. 1 carmaker in the world, Volkswagen must drive through Chattanooga.
"It's important to be a producer in the important markets of the world," Jochem Heizmann, the company's board member in charge of worldwide production, said in an interview with the Chattanooga Times Free Press.
Dr. Heizmann, an engineer, said construction of the $1 billion Chattanooga assembly plant sends "a clear message" to the entire auto industry.
"Our mission is to bring VW to the hearts and minds of the American people," he said while in the city for a ceremonial wall raising at the factory that's to start making cars in early 2011.
VW was No. 3 in the world in sales for the first quarter, selling 1.4 million units. Toyota Motor Corp. topped the list at 1.7 million vehicles, followed by General Motors. VW has more than 40 plants worldwide, but does not assemble cars in the United States.
The Chattanooga plant will make the new sedan on which VW is hinging much of its goals. Mr. Jacoby said the automaker can become a major player in the U.S. only if it competes in the major vehicle segments such as midsize cars.
VW executives also said the Chattanooga facility will be a state-of-the-art green factory, bringing to the city what the company has learned at other plants worldwide. VW, for example, will use a water-based paint that's easy on the environment.
Dr. Heizmann said the company is moving forward with the plant in a recession because executives know the market will pick up again.
"The United States is a great car market, and we believe there is a promising future for VW here," he said.
Company officials already are thinking about a future expansion in Chattanooga and boosting production from 150,000 vehicles annually to 300,000. Officials for Audi, VW's upscale brand, also are looking at possible American production.
Dr. Heizmann said there's no set expansion plan yet, but the company has options.
"We have the flexibility integrated into the plant - one is to expand it and on the other hand to produce other cars as well. We have to do it step by step," he said.
A year ago, workers started cutting trees and bulldozing dirt to help Volkswagen officials better evaluate Enterprise South industrial park and decide where to site an assembly plant.
Today, construction of the new factory is well under way in Chattanooga, putting VW on the road to becoming what its officials call "an American car maker," growing its sales here and catapulting it to the world's top automaker.
VW has hired about 100 people in Chattanooga so far and is actively recruiting about 70 more, according to the car company.
Most of those white-collar positions are in purchasing and human resources, but toward the end of this year the company will begin to fill some assembly line work posts.
VW plans to hire 2,000 people in connection with the plant after it starts making cars in early 2011.
Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press
