Volkswagen will build its first American plant since the 1980’s in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The city bested competing bids from Alabama and Michigan toward the engender, which will cost up to $1 billion to build and could employ considered in the state of many as 2,000 workers. Chattanooga had a greater advantage due to the specify’s lack of unions and ease-of-access according to European travelers. According to their plans, this 1,350-acre facility be inclined produce 150,000 vehicles, one of which disposition be a of the present day mid-sized sedan for the US market, that is set to see fruit in in good time 2011. Press release below the jump.

VOLKSWAGEN GROUP OF AMERICA ANNOUNCES IT WILL PRODUCE CARS IN CHATTANOOGA; DECISION MARKS COMPANY’S ONGOING COMMITMENT TO NORTH AMERICAN MARKET

Company will invest $1 billion and bring about 2,000 direct jobs to tri-state area

HERNDON, Va. (July 15, 2008) - Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today that it will build a U.S. automotive production pliancy in Chattanooga, Tenn., where it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American consumer and invest $1 billion in the economy. The announcement is an important element of the company’s overall U.S. generalship of connecting with its customers, increasing its competitiveness and tripling its U.S. customer base in the nearest decade.

“The U.S. market is an important part of our volume strategy and we are now very resolutely accessing that market,” aforesaid Prof. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG. “Volkswagen will exist extremely active there. This plant represents a milestone in Volkswagen’s growth strategy. We will be selling 800,000 Volkswagens in the U.S. by 2018, and this new site will do a key role. This, along with our growth strategy, is a prerequisite for the economic prosperity of the company in the dollar country. We look forward to establishing an important mainstay for ourselves when we become the biggest European carmaker there.”

“This is a significant step forward in achieving our goals in the U.S. market and a clear sign of the Volkswagen Group’s committal to the North American consumer. Today’s decision is a fundamental part of our new strategic direction in the U.S. and our five-pillar strategy,” reported Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. “Chattanooga is an excellent fit for the Volkswagen improvement, having an aberrant quality of mode and a long manufacturing tradition.”

The company will build the facility in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The 1,350-acre site is 100 percent owned by the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County and is certified as an industrial megasite by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Enterprise South is adjacent to Interstate 75. Initial work capacity for the facility is anticipated to be in possession of existence 150,000 vehicles, including a new midsize sedan designed specifically for the North American market. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2011.

“I’m enormously pleased by the announcement from Volkswagen Group of America and pleasant for the company’s investment in Chattanooga and in the people of Tennessee,” said Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen. “I believe Volkswagen chose Tennessee because of our shared values, our commitment to innovation and our strong respect by reason of the environment. This project will have a significant impact on the economy of Tennessee and the sphere for decades to come.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased that the spirit of partnership between the state of Tennessee, Volkswagen and the government and business leadership of Chattanooga and Hamilton County has resulted in this significant investment in Enterprise South,” said Matt Kisber, commissioner of the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. “Volkswagen’s investment in this community means the hard work and inscription demonstrated by people at the state and topical level to create some of the best business climates in the country is paying off.”

“We started with a vision of transforming any idle Army facility into the source of thousands of family-wage jobs,” said Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey. “Over the last 14 years, I’ve worked with four different city mayors in the manner that well as shire commissioners, city councilmen and countless others in overcoming barriers and objections to that plan. Today, we stand with our new friends from Volkswagen to move a historic announcement that will create new opportunities for our community for years to come.”

“Volkswagen and Chattanooga esteem a fortune in belonging to all,” said Chattanooga City Mayor Ron Littlefield. “Both are demure about environmental sustainability and 21st Century manufacturing.”

Environmental responsibility is a core hold in high esteem of the Volkswagen Group. The company’s focus on sustainable mobility and environmentally responsible manufacturing are right in line with Chattanooga’s strong environmental commitment. As an expression of this shared commitment, the state of Tennessee, Volkswagen and Chattanooga-area organizations are partnering to distribute two saplings against every tree displaced by the project. The new trees will be planted by local school children.

According to United States Sen. Bob Corker, who was mayor of Chattanooga when the city and Hamilton County acquired the land and established Enterprise South as an industrial park, the Volkswagen announcement represents a fresh chapter in Chattanooga’s success story. “Through twists and turns, our community has maintained focus, invested wisely and exercised awful effort and spirit in recruiting a greater employer to Enterprise South. The breaking of this final impediment and the realization of the phantasm to which we have held true will take us to levels we can barely begin to imagine,” said Corker.

He continued, “Volkswagen is the very best manufacturer and partner we could possibly have in terms of our shared values, and considered in the parade of a result of their enormous investment, not only will Chattanooga exist forever changed, but our entire state will reap great benefits from the new suppliers that this facility will attract to the region. I am proud to have been part of a dedicated team that has worked seamlessly on this effort and celebrate this outstanding achievement for our incorporated town and our state.”

United States Sen. Lamar Alexander praised Volkswagen’s decision to locate at Enterprise South, saying, “Volkswagen and Chattanooga, the imaginary marriage: undivided of the world’s most admired companies and one of America’s most livable cities. This decision keeps Tennessee on the road to appropriate the No. 1 state in auto jobs. Congratulations especially to Gov. Bredesen, Sen. Corker and Mayors Ramsey and Littlefield for their leadership,” Alexander concluded.

“Over the past seven months, more than 100 Tennesseans at the local, state and federal level have worked odd hours on short deadlines to help us reach this day,” said Trevor Hamilton, defect president of economic development for the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce. “From this day forward, we dedicate ourselves to partnering through Volkswagen to move from construction to production to the degree that quickly as possible. We determination make into a unit our team with Volkwagen’s to ensure long-term success for the gang, our common and the state of Tennessee.”

With the new plant, Volkswagen will bring about 2,000 direct jobs to the area, and will add a significant number of jobs in related sectors. It is expected that these jobs will come from the tri-state area, pulling from the labor force of Tennessee as well to the degree that Georgia and Alabama. Volkswagen of America current each attractive, wide-embracing package of incentives for the new facility from Gov. Bredesen’s office and the Tennessee Department of Economic and Community Development. The statutory incentives are tied to job creation and capital investment. Additional support includes assistance for public infrastructure and job training, each designed to ensure the local economy best leverages Volkswagen’s investment to benefit the local work force and ensure the ductility’s good luck.

“This area has a deep base of well-trained labor, with excellent engineering and manufacturing programs at the universities and technical colleges,” added Jacoby. “Thanks to the visionary leaders and people of Chattanooga, we’re confident that the values of this area are compatible with our own, and we envision a long and productive partnership.”

Last year, Volkswagen outlined a of the present day strategic direction in the U.S. based upon the body five pillars: product, brand positioning, dealer network, organization and local production. As it moved forward to assess the potential for limited production, the company considered many other site options and earlier this year had narrowed its search to Alabama, Michigan and Tennessee.

“We reviewed three excellent sites, whole of which had the specific qualities necessary to build a plant in the United States,” said Jacoby. “Both Gov. Granholm and Gov. Riley were strong advocates on advantage of their states and the citizens they represent. This was a difficult decision, but we look forward to continuing our relationships with both states. I thank both governors and their staffs.”

[Source: VW]