Taking the next step in its efforts to reach 1 million annual sales in the U.S. by 2018, Volkswagen recently opened its new plant in Chattanooga, Tenn., during a special ceremony led by Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the board of Volkswagen AG.
“The Volkswagen Group has finally arrived as a local manufacturer in the United States. We are proud to be part of this great automobile nation as a producer, an employer, and as a friend and good neighbor to people in the region,” said Winterkorn, speaking in front of an audience that included Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, U.S. Senators Robert Corker and Lamar Alexander, and Dr. Klaus Sharioth, Germany’s ambassador to the United States.
The plant is the home of both the all-new 2012 Volkswagen Passat—which has been completely reinvented to better meet the preferences of U.S. customers—as well as some 2,000 new employees, who will be working at one of the most resource-efficient auto plants in the world. It’s all part of a $1 billion VW investment in Chattanooga that is expected to also create approximately 10,000 additional jobs in the automaker’s supply chain.
And as mentioned, that big boost to the region’s economy will have a surprisingly small environmental footprint. Designed to meet the high standards set by the U.S. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) program, the plant showcases a wide range of energy-saving technologies, from LED-only outdoor lighting that’s controlled by motion detectors and helps the facility’s lighting system use 20 percent less energy, to the implementation of a filler-less painting process that reduces CO2 emissions by a like amount.
For more information on the made-in-America, designed-for-America VW Passat, visit VW Of Charlotte or your local Volkswagen dealer.
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