Volkswagen Releases Teaser Sketch

What is this, some kind of a joke?!

You have to love the fun folks at Volkswagen. Promising editors that a high resolution photo of its proposed new Chattanooga-made midsize sedan was available for downloading, eager journalists streamed over to the designated page to find none other than a roughly drawn sketch. That’s right, a scribbled outline of what the new VW will look like.

Publicity Stunt?

Maybe we shouldn’t be upset with VW for pulling such a stunt, given that the company wants to hold the vehicle as close to the vest as possible. Due to be released in 2011, the newest VW is being designed and built for the North American market exclusively. That means the Passat will return overseas while a made for America model gets sold in its place instead.

So why the secrecy and false move? I can think of at least four reasons: Ford Fusion, Toyota Camry, Honda Accord and Chevrolet Malibu. Include the Hyundai Sonata, Nissan Altima and a host of other midsize sedans with those four and you probably are beginning to understand what I’m getting at: Volkswagen is seeking to find its place in an incredibly tight and popular segment of autodom. Leak too much information in advance and your competition will discover what you’re up to and make needed adjustments in order to repel the new kid on the block.

Chattanooga Plant

The Chattanooga factory, which will be VW’s first US plant since closing down Westmoreland (PA) in the late 1980s, is now under construction. Volkswagen will begin producing the first of its unnamed sedan in late 2011 for the 2012 model year. When fully ramped up, initial capacity will be 150,000 units, but bet on it being doubled if the secretive sedan is a hit. After all, VW wants to increase its US market share and it can’t rely on Audi alone to do that for them.

Speaking of market share, Volkswagen has been on a tear of late, increasing market share while holding down its year to year losses to under ten percent. Even with the end of  “cash for clunkers” in August, Volkswagen saw its month over month sales drop by less than one percent for September 2009. Credit hot cars like the Jetta, Golf and CC with helping to bolster VW sales.

Concept Debut

Will VW release something beyond the horrid sketch anytime soon? Don’t count on it, but expect that at some US auto show in the near future a mock-up concept of this midsize sedan will be rolled out, a tangible teaser we can all wag our tongues over.

Ugly sketch courtesy of Volkswagen.

Chattanooga Wins Volkswagen Plant Competition

Volkswagen will begin building a new automotive plant in Tennessee this year that will have an initial build capacity of 150,000 cars annually when it goes online in 2011.

German automaker Volkswagen, who at one time had an automotive plant in Pennsylvania and then closed it, has decided on building an all-new plant in the US, selecting Chattanooga, Tennessee as the winning location. For the first time in two decades Volkswagen vehicles will be built in the US, an investment of $1 billion that VW says will create 2000 jobs.

“The U.S. market is an important part of our volume strategy and we are now very resolutely accessing that market,” said Prof. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG. “Volkswagen will be 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 play a key role. This, along with our growth strategy, is a prerequisite for the economic success of the company in the dollar region. 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 commitment 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,” said Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. “Chattanooga is an excellent fit for the Volkswagen culture, having an exceptional quality of life and a long manufacturing tradition.”

The new VW plant will be located in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, a business park situated 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. Owned by the city of Chattanooga and the county of Hamilton, the 1350 acre site is certified as an industrial megasite by the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA). Initial production capacity for the new facility is 150,000 vehicles, including plans to build a new midsize sedan that will be designed specifically for the North American market. Construction will commence later this year; production is scheduled to begin in early 2011.

Volkswagen expects to hire about 2000 people for the plant and expects many more jobs from related industries to also be created.  Alabama and Georgia which both border the Chattanooga area should also benefit from the new automotive plant.