Volkswagen’s Chattanooga Expansion Could Add 9,800 Jobs and $370 Million to Local Economy

—University of Tennessee Study Underscores the Role of Incentives as a Driver of Economic Growth—

Herndon, VA (May 27, 2015) – A University of Tennessee Center of Business and Economic Research (CBER) study released today indicates that the expansion of Volkswagen’s Chattanooga manufacturing facility to produce a new midsize-SUV and the opening of a North American Engineering and Planning Center could create approximately 9,800 jobs and add $370 million in additional annual income, once the plant is fully operational.

“The findings in the CBER study demonstrate that the incentive package recently passed by the Tennessee legislature will result in an economic growth multiplier of several times the state’s investment,” said David Geanacopoulos, Executive Vice President for Public Affairs and General Counsel, Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. “We would like to thank Gov. Bill Haslam and Economic and Community Development Commissioner Randy Boyd for their leadership in fostering a business environment within Tennessee that is mutually-beneficial for the state and local economy as well as for companies like Volkswagen that have operations in the state.”

In addition to the 2,400 Tennessee workers directly employed by Volkswagen, the study projects that Volkswagen’s $704 million investment in the Chattanooga plant expansion, including the opening of a new North American Engineering and Planning Center, has the potential to:

Generate $217 million of new income and more than 5,300 indirect and direct jobs in Tennessee during the construction and tooling phase

Create roughly 9,800 jobs, once the plant is fully operational, including 1,800 potential jobs at the production plant, 200 engineering jobs at the VW North American Engineering and Planning Center, as well as positions at auto parts suppliers, and other jobs throughout Tennessee

Be responsible for $370 million in additional annual income, once the plant is fully operational

“Extensive supplier linkages and good incomes earned by Volkswagen employees account for the significant employment gains and economic multiplier effects in Tennessee,” said William Fox, the study’s author and Director of the Center for Business & Economic Research at the University of Tennessee. “This includes jobs in many industries across the state, such as grocery stores, restaurants, shopping malls and construction.”

Construction for the Volkswagen Chattanooga expansion project is currently underway, and is expected to be completed during the summer of 2016. Production of the Volkswagen midsize-SUV is scheduled to commence at the end of 2016, marking the second Volkswagen model to be produced in Chattanooga, in addition to the Passat.

“The study underscores Volkswagen’s commitment to Tennessee, and we are excited to grow our team and the Chattanooga plant as we gear up for the production of our first-ever seven-passenger SUV for the U.S. market,” said Christian Koch, President and CEO, Volkswagen Chattanooga. “We appreciate our partnerships with Hamilton County Mayor Coppinger and Chattanooga Mayor Berke, as well as Governor Haslam, for their ongoing support of Volkswagen’s expansion in Chattanooga.”

The CBER study is commissioned by Volkswagen Group of America. Findings within the study are independent calculations by CBER researchers.

The post Volkswagen’s Chattanooga Expansion Could Add 9,800 Jobs and $370 Million to Local Economy appeared first on VWVortex.

from VWVortex http://ift.tt/1KogNT3
via IFTTT

Project SportWagen: Going Stage 2 with APR

When we last left you, the humble little SportWagen was fresh from the development process with our friends at AWE Tuning, sporting a new downpipe, exhaust and intake, allowing things to breathe a bit easier. The car sounded great, but there was no getting around the fact that our wagon was still quite, well, slow. While we realize that nothing we do to the Golf SportWagen at this point will make it a race car, we still felt compelled to do something . To put it bluntly, we had a fever, and the only cure was more power. Flash forward a few hours, and we found ourselves at Waterfest, staring down APR’s palatial spread and the numerous tuned vehicles surrounding it. Earlier in the year, APR had hinted to us that their 1.8 TSI files would be quite impressive, and based on what they were able to do with the 2.0 TSI found in the new GTI and our time in their Golf R, we knew it’d be worth the wait. So with this in mind, we lined our G...

Project Golf SportWagen- Intro

I’ve never really been one for SUVs and crossovers. The current offerings aren’t the body-on-frame, go-anywhere specialty tools I remember from my youth, and what they lack in capability, they also lack in on-road performance. The current crop isn’t terribly good at handling or being efficient, which in my opinion are major components of our ideal driving experience. So when it comes to space or utility, I usually look for something of the wagon variety- and it seems that I’m not alone. We hit quite a few shows around the east coast each summer, and we see modified Jetta SportWagens at nearly every event. Even amongst common consumers, these cars are highly sought-after. They don’t depreciate much, making even early Mk 5 2.5 versions expensive in comparison to other Jettas or Golfs of the same vintage. This year, Volkswagen launched their latest SportWagen, which is now billed as a Golf. In many ways, this latest SportWagen is the best yet and it has certai...

Volkswagen Group Records Best Ever First-Half-of-Year Sales

With 5.5 million vehicles in customer hands after the first six months of 2018, the Volkswagen Group is seeing the best performance of its history. Group deliveries increased significantly in all core regions,” said Fred Kappler, head of sales for the Group. “Our core brands recorded strong growth in the first half year.” For the year-to-date, all of Volkswagen’s brands had sales bumps. MAN, SEAT, and Skoda led the sales charge with performances 24%, 17% and 11% better than the previous year. The big sellers, too, had strong sales periods, with Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles, Audi, and Volkswagen sales rising 3.5%, 4.5% and 6.3% respectively. That last figure is particularly good new for the board, since Volkswagen alone sold more than 3 million vehicles in the first half of 2018. As Kappler stated, the numbers are equally good when you break sales down by region. Brazil and Russia were the most improved markets (22% and 20%, respectively), while strong sales in Europe and China (u...

Vorderman Volkswagen

Search This Blog