ˆ Volkswagen to build test track at Chattanooga plant

tags : chattanooga , volkswagen , volkswagen chattanooga , volkswagen chattanooga tennessee , volkswagen tennessee , volkswagen test track , volkswagenchattanooga , volkswagenchattanoogatennessee , volkswagentennessee , volkswagentesttrack , vw , vw chattanooga , vw tennessee , vwchattanooga , vwtennessee

Volkswagen is planning to open a new test track in Tennesee to accompany the $1 billion plant the automaker is opening in Chattanooga. The plant is being built to assemble a new family sedan targeted specifically towards the American market, and the test facility will be used to develop the vehicle. However it could also serve as a location for customers to pick up and try out their new vehicles in the security of a closed-track setting. Volkswagen pointed out that the track, which will join the company's existing Gila Bend facility in Arizona, won't necessarily be a high-speed circuit, pointing towards the track at its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, where vehicles never exceed 85 mph. High speed testing takes place primarily at the company's Ehra-Lessien track, with a six-mile straight that allows for Veyron-style 250-mph runs. No more details were offered on the nature of the test track, but we're sure more will become available as construction progresses in Chattanooga, so stay tuned.

posted : 10/27/2008 @4:07:12 PM

ˆ Nissan offering buyouts to Tennessee workers

tags : decherd , decherd buyouts , decherd tennessee , decherdbuyouts , decherdtennessee , nissan , nissan buyout , nissan buyouts , nissanbuyout , nissanbuyouts , smyrna , smyrna buyout , smyrna buyouts , smyrna tennessee , smyrnabuyout , smyrnabuyouts , smyrnatennessee

Following up Nissan's first set of U.S. buyout packages offered a year ago, employees at both the Smyrna and Decherd powertrain plants in Tennessee will be offered a lump sum payout along with medical and car purchase benefits to leave. Last year, the buyouts attracted 775 workers, though the payout at that time was just $45k plus an additional $500 for each year of service. This time, the lump sum starts at a heady $100k. Not surprisingly, Nissan is expecting more people to take the package this year than last. In fact, Nissan spokesman Fred Standish says that "market realities" mean that the Japanese automaker needs to shed some 1,200 excess employees. The packages are open for a three-year window, with the greatest sum being offered for workers who accept the packages this year. The Smyrna plant assembles the Frontier pickup, Altima, Xterra, Maxima and Pathfinder. Our bet is that the sedans will continue production as normal with the trucks and SUVs accounting for the lowered head count.

posted : 8/8/2008 @12:25:07 PM

ˆ Volkswagen announces plans for factory in Chattanooga, Tenn.

tags : breaking , chattanooga , plant , tennessee , volkswagen

Volkswagen announced this morning that it would build a manufacturing plant in Chattanooga, Tenn. where it will build a vehicle specifically for the North American market. The plant will employ 2,000 workers from the tri-state area and is expected to invest $1 billion in the local economy.

The plant is an integral part of Volkswagen's plan for expansion in the N.A. market, with sales expected to crest 800,000 units by 2018. The 1,350-acre site will produce 150,000 vehicles annually – specifically a midsize sedan – in 2011.

posted : 7/17/2008 @1:08:41 PM

ˆ Next Volkswagen Passat could be built Stateside

tags : alabama , assembly , chattanooga , ferdinand piech , ferdinandpiech , huntsville , manufacturing , plant , tennessee , volkswagen , volkswagen manufacturing , volkswagen stateside manufacturing , volkswagen united states manufacturing , volkswagen united states plant , volkswagen us plant , volkswagenmanufacturing , volkswagenstatesidemanufacturing

Following-up on last week's announcement that Volkswagen was looking at Alabama for a new manufacturing facility, the German automaker's management board is expected to make their final recommendation today. Following that announcement, Volkswagen's supervisory board, headed by former VW group CEO Ferdinand Piech, will make its decision by tomorrow. Whether Huntsville, Alabama, or second-choice Chattanooga, Tennessee, gets the nod, the move is key for Volkswagen as they attempt to increase sales in the United States with more targeted, and lower priced, vehicles. In addition to the Volkswagen Jetta (itself being redesigned to better compete with the Honda Civic) the new facility will produce an all-new Passat-sized sedan with a base price of about $20,000. Larger, in order to compete with the Toyota Camry, the new sedan would undercut the current Volkswagen Passat's pricing by about $5,000--a significant margin. The plant would open in late 2010 with an annual production capacity of nearly 250,000 vehicles.

posted : 7/15/2008 @1:17:23 AM

ˆ VW decision on U.S. plant in July, sorry Michigan

tags : alabama , new vw plant , newvwplant , tennessee , volkswagen , vw

The large disparity between the value of the Euro and the U.S. dollar has given European automakers incentive to build plants Stateside. VW has been looking for the location of its next North American plant, and it appears as though we'll have an answer by July 8. Tennessee and Alabama are said to be the two major candidates for the $788 million facility, which could come online as soon as 2011 and produce 300,000 units per year by 2018. Word from Auto Motor Und Sport is that Michigan is completely out of the picture, and considering the state's history with the UAW and Volkswagen's white collar exit from the mitten, the news isn't all that surprising, though certainly disappointing for the depressed state. There is no word at this point which vehicles VW is planning to build at the new plant, though the German automaker will likely creately a flexible manufacturing facility that can build several vehicles on one line.

posted : 7/1/2008 @3:28:44 PM

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