VW confirms SUV for Chattanooga; will add 2,000 jobs including new R&D center
 

Filed under: Crossover, Volkswagen

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Broadcasting from its "Mobile Life Campus" in Wolfsburg, Germany (and crowing about Germany's World Cup win last night), Volkswagen has just announced that its new "Midsize SUV" will be built at the company's Chattanooga, TN manufacturing facility. Further, the company says it will establish a new "National Research & Development and Planning Center" at the Tennessee campus.

Without divulging new details about the vehicle, VW Chairman Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn confirms that the seven-passenger utility vehicle, previewed by the CrossBlue Concept, will be coming to Chattanooga. Winterkorn called the upcoming family hauler a "true American car ... built by real Americans."

In total, VW expects to create some 2,000 jobs by way of its announced efforts, with more than $7 billion invested in the US and Mexico.

Certainly, the CrossBlue's progeny has been designed with the US customer in mind, a high-capacity crossover (despite VW's insistence in calling it an "SUV") built on the versatile MQB architecture that underpins all of the company's newest products.

A diesel-electric hybrid in concept form, there's still no word on what powertrains the production version might offer - save for VW hinting that the platform is versatile enough to take hybrid, 2.0T, V6 or some combination of power therein.

Production on the utility vehicle will commence at the end of 2016. By then, some $900 million will have been invested in the project, with some 538,000 square feet of floor space added to the production facility.

As for the new R&D center, Winterkorn explains that its primary function will be to speed up the response time in bringing relevant product to US costumers. More than 200 new engineers will call VW Chatttanooga home, helping to integrate customer feedback "expeditiously" into currently built models, as well as planned vehicles.

In total, VW expects to create some 2,000 jobs by way of its announced efforts, with more than $7 billion invested in the US and Mexico from 2014 through 2018. (Actually, Dr. Winterkorn said "7 billion euros" in his live speech, contrary to the $7 billion figure noted in the VW press release; we're reaching out to the company for clarification.)

Finally, with a nod to some of the labor struggles VW, the United Auto Workers and political forces within the state of Tennessee have undergone over the last year, the company has announced that Chairman of the Group Works Council, Bernd Osterloh, will be joining the board of directors for VW America. Osterloh vows to "uphold the interests of Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga."

Scroll down to read the full VW press release.Continue reading VW confirms SUV for Chattanooga; will add 2,000 jobs including new R&D center

VW confirms SUV for Chattanooga; will add 2,000 jobs including new R&D center originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 14 Jul 2014 09:31:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.



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