TurboSpyder
TurboSpyder
Bilstein "DampTronic" traitors!
View My AgentSpace

Print this Page | Digg It | del.icio.us

Tags: Volkswagen, Assembly Plant, Chattanooga, Tennessee

Tag Links: Volkswagen, Assembly Plant, Chattanooga, Tennessee

VW's choice eases Chattanooga's past auto snubs

VW's choice of Chattanooga for assembly plant eases frustration of past automaker snubs

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) -- When Volkswagen said yes, a city that shed its reputation for dirty air to become a top outdoors destination forgot years of frustrating rejections by automakers.

Volkswagen's plans to build a $1 billion assembly plant and create 2,000 jobs in Chattanooga had radio listeners rejoicing on call-in shows, businesses hanging welcome signs and U.S. Sen. Bob Corker declaring the city "will never be the same again."

University of Tennessee economist Bill Fox said spinoff jobs in Tennessee and neighboring corners of Georgia and Alabama would probably total more than 10,000. That economic impact doesn't include the publicity from a global company planning a new sedan and seeking to boost its share of the U.S. market.

"The cachet of having the firm come there is something that will be talked about through much of the world," Fox said. "It gets the name of Chattanooga and the state of Tennessee in the media across the globe."

It's a welcome blast of attention for a city that once had the dirtiest air in the country. In 1969, the U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare ranked it No. 1 in particulate air pollution, thanks to smoke-belching foundries trapped by surrounding mountains.

Chattanooga and surrounding Hamilton County responded by creating an air pollution control bureau and in 1989 the Environmental Protection Agency took Chattanooga off its dirty air list.

In 2005, Chattanooga dedicated its redeveloped riverfront and Outside Magazine rated the Scenic City as one of America's Top 10 Dream Towns with hiking, camping, hang gliding, rock climbing and nearby whitewater rafting where 1996 Olympic competitions were held.

Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey, who has worked for more than a decade to attract an automaker to Chattanooga, said the announcement answered "all those naysayers who said it would never happen."

"I can remember when the pollution was bad," Ramsey said. "The times have changed and manufacturing has changed and all that is for the better ... This is a community that can do about whatever it wants to once it makes up its mind."

Volkswagen's plans for the new plant would complement Chattanooga's environmental revival, company officials say.

It will be built on the site of a former Army ammunition plant, near a pair of interstate highways and rail lines. Volkswagen has heavily marketed its fuel-efficient cars and says it strives to make all of its operations environmentally sustainable.

And it will be an employment boon for a city still coping -- like many industrial centers in the South -- from the loss of manufacturing sites that sustained them for decades.

Jonathan Hood, a Chattanooga State Technical Community College freshman studying electronics, said he will be applying at Volkswagen.

Hood, a 39-year-old former Marine, said he works in construction but has always wanted to work in an auto plant. Hood said he has an aunt who works at a Chrysler plant in Ohio.

"She really makes good money," Hood said.

Dale Smith, general manager of Village Volkswagen of Chattanooga, said the company's choice of a plant site "is probably the biggest thing to ever happen to this town." Read Article



Comments:

Images hosted in your AgentSpace can now be posted in the comments section using the following syntax (case matters):
[img]IMAGE URL[/img]
Example: [img]http://agent004.myautospies.com/users/150/Sample-Gallery/sample1.JPG[/img]
nukezdocnukezdoc - 7/17/2008 8:57:18 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Good for Chattanooga! On any trip to Atlanta, I always make a point to spend some time in that neat city up in the mountains- hard to believe that it used to be so polluted.

reply to this comment
EnnNorakEnnNorak - 7/17/2008 9:06:32 AM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
I always wanted to visit Tennessee. Now I have a perfect excuse. VW locating there means they will likely offer interesting plant tours for visitors. There is also a company in TN that makes great shortwave radios that I want to visit. BTW, I recently became a happy VW customer by buying a loaded Passat to replace a leased Audi A6 that I turned in.

reply to this comment
Bmw8terBmw8ter - 7/17/2008 9:48:48 AM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
I lived in the Chattanooga area for 3 years a while back, up in East Brainerd ontop of the mountain. Fantastic place to live. There are tons of things to do around there. I visited a year and a half ago. I couldn't believe how developed it's become. You'd think think they had 1 million people living there.


DieselRulesDieselRules - 7/17/2008 1:19:53 PM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
EnnNorak: so you've down-graded from the "full A6" to the "A6 lite"! I used to joke that a Passat was an Audi without the climate control, except it has that now.
We're going from a pair of A6's to a 2009 Jetta TDI wagon (with that huge sunroof that you can't get in an Audi, and dual-zone climate control, just like the Audis)


DieselRulesDieselRules - 7/17/2008 5:46:19 PM
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
Sounds like a good choice of location. There's already a lot of auto-related infrastructure nearby. For example the company that builds the electronics for the dashboards of Nissan's pickups is in Tennessee.

VW has to do something about its US$60/hour labor costs in Germany if it wants to sell more higher-end vehicles (which are mostly built in Germany, with the exception of the Touareg in Bratislava).
Plus, large sedans built here can be shipped to Mexico under NAFTA duty free, just as the small VW's made in Mexico move to the US and Canada as domestic vehicles.

reply to this comment
amazinBimmeramazinBimmer - 7/17/2008 7:31:06 PM
-2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
hicks and rednecks making VWs..

will they key every car they make.??

i hate hoosiers

reply to this comment
IamEvilHomerIamEvilHomer - 7/18/2008 1:55:07 AM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
another racest coment on Auto Spies from Amazing Bimmer


DieselRulesDieselRules - 7/18/2008 12:32:30 PM
+2 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
cousins of the hicks and rednecks that are building the MB M-class, no doubt.
Close to where NASA does its most advanced development work.
Bet there's a lot of hicks and red-necks working at NASA too!
(sarcasm intended)


chewychewy - 7/18/2008 2:31:46 PMView My AgentSpace
+1 BoostDrop the Boost Up the Boost
BMWs are made in the south too.
To post a comment for this story, you must first Login.

If you do not have an account, you will need to Register (It's Free!).

Most Recent Stories
SOUND OFF: GM and Chrysler In Merger Talks, Is This Good Or Bad For The Industry?GMAC Limiting Car Loans Only To Applicants With Scores Above 700Four Volkswagen models awarded the best grade of "top safety pick" by the Insurance Institute for Highway SafetyNew Mitsubishi Lancer EVO X GSR Premium EditionMr. Norm’s Super Cuda prepares its 2008 SEMA debutAudi Q3 two years away, Q1 also in the pipelineClarkson: 2009 Cadillac CTS-V smashes the BMW M5GT-R production halted!Cerberus Sets It Sights Now On GMAC and GM. Could The Big Three Become Only Two?Are These New Diesels Here To Stay? Or Just Another Flash In The Pan?Seeing the 2010 Nissan 370Z - More PicturesGM To Schmooze The Fed For $5 Billion More To Stay Afloat2009 Mazda 6 GT-V6 ReviewTop Gear's Clarkson Involved In Head On CrashPorsche 997 V-GT Coupe by VorsteinerCar and Drivers Annual Lightning Lap around Virginia International-- See how your Favorite Cars Did!Honda S3000: Next S2000 may get 300-hp V6Audi R8 V10 and convertible will come in limited numbersFirst AMG hybrid supercar coming in 20102010 Hyundai Genesis Coupe Officially launched Acura says its NSX will be faster than the GTR2009 Audi A4 receives five-star rating at the NHTSA testsBangle Butt Is Gone On The New 7, But Is It Better?What Was The Most Disappointing New Vehicle Shown At The Paris Motor Show?Ford Planning to Sell Mazda!My response to Audi’s viral videoI Know We're A Car Site But Could 001 Have Spied Details Of The New MacBook's That No One Else Has?Video of F1 vs. M5GM and Chrysler Merging? Who Will Be The Next To Fall?Citroen C3 Picasso to Get New Micro-Hybrid SystemRenault Megane Coupe Caught Testing at the ‘RingNew Hyundai 310HP V6 Lambda RS EngineSpy Shots: Audi TT-RS RoadsterMazda planning to mass produce hydrogen rotary engineFiat eco:Drive launched in ParisFord’s New Collision Warning with Brake SupportU.K. debut for the Skoda Superb GreenlineVw Tiguan by Caractere2010 Bmw X1 to receive both AWD and RWD transmissionMaserati MC12, new “King of the Ring”No Credit and A Pending Economic Meltdown: The Current State of the Automotive Industry - Money Now Is The Object, How Will It Affect Your Next Purchase?Lotus Builds Track-Ready 2009 Exige Cup 260Capital One Cuts Off Dealer Financing For Inventory Purchases In New York And New JerseyToyota iQ will be badged as a Scion in the U.S.F1 boss’s daughter posses in a checkered flag for a causeNext-generation Mazda MX-5 could go hybrid or dieselToyota Says It Has Credit To Give, Just Fewer People Are Buying Their CarsToyota Readies To Extend 0% Financing ProgramNissan Already Using Black Box Data To Void GT-R Warranty ClaimsElectric Porsche 911 by Ruf breaks cover