The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant (or Chattanooga Operations LLC) is an American automobile assembly plant in
Chattanooga, Tennessee
Chattanooga ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. Located along the Tennessee River bordering Georgia, it also extends into Marion County on its western end. With a population of 181,099 in 2020, ...
. The plant was formally announced in July 2008 and was formally inaugurated in May 2011.
Production began in April 2011 with the model year 2012
Passat B7 (initially called the ''Passat NMS (New Midsize Sedan)''), tailored to the US market,
with a projected annual production of 150,000 cars. Passat production ended in December, 2021.
Production of the
Volkswagen Atlas
The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US and ...
commenced in 2017.
Production of the electric
Volkswagen ID.4
The Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen ID.5 are battery electric compact crossover SUVs produced by Volkswagen. Based on the MEB platform, the ID.4 is the second model of the Volkswagen ID. series. The production version of the ID.4 debuted in Sep ...
commenced July 26, 2022.
Background
The local plant, building a localized product, allows Volkswagen to avoid
exchange rate
In finance, an exchange rate is the rate at which one currency will be exchanged for another currency. Currencies are most commonly national currencies, but may be sub-national as in the case of Hong Kong or supra-national as in the case of ...
fluctuations, monitor US automotive market trends,
and potentially reduce vulnerability to extended supply chain issues.
At its outset, Chattanooga Assembly manufactured 85% of the Passat's content,
and about 85% of the content of the North American Passat comes from
North American Free Trade Agreement
The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA ; es, Tratado de Libre Comercio de América del Norte, TLCAN; french: Accord de libre-échange nord-américain, ALÉNA) was an agreement signed by Canada, Mexico, and the United States that crea ...
(NAFTA) countries.
The company initially had plans for an expansion that would increase capacity to 592,000 vehicles a year.
Labor costs at the Tennessee plant, including wages and benefits, have been estimated to average $27 an hour, below those of
Ford
Ford commonly refers to:
* Ford Motor Company, an automobile manufacturer founded by Henry Ford
* Ford (crossing), a shallow crossing on a river
Ford may also refer to:
Ford Motor Company
* Henry Ford, founder of the Ford Motor Company
* Ford F ...
,
GM,
Chrysler
Stellantis North America (officially FCA US and formerly Chrysler ()) is one of the " Big Three" automobile manufacturers in the United States, headquartered in Auburn Hills, Michigan. It is the American subsidiary of the multinational automoti ...
, and some foreign automakers.
As of late 2012, cars manufactured at the Chattanooga Assembly Plant have been exported to
Mexico
Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...
,
Canada
Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
,
South Korea
South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...
, and the
Middle East
The Middle East ( ar, الشرق الأوسط, ISO 233: ) is a geopolitical region commonly encompassing Arabian Peninsula, Arabia (including the Arabian Peninsula and Bahrain), Anatolia, Asia Minor (Asian part of Turkey except Hatay Pro ...
.
The Chattanooga plant opened 23 years after the closing of the
Westmoreland Assembly Plant near
New Stanton, Pennsylvania
New Stanton is a borough in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania, United States. The population was 2,173 at the 2010 census. New Stanton is often used as a control city in western parts of Pennsylvania, as I-70 joins the Pennsylvania Turnpike (I-76 ...
, in 1988.
The Westmoreland plant, which began operation in 1978, had been characterized by labor unrest and suffered from poor networking between Westmoreland and Volkswagen headquarters in then-
West Germany
West Germany is the colloquial term used to indicate the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG; german: Bundesrepublik Deutschland , BRD) between its formation on 23 May 1949 and the German reunification through the accession of East Germany on 3 O ...
.
Site
The entire facility includes approximately ,
and is constructed on a parcel of the
Enterprise South Industrial Park
The Enterprise South Industrial Park, located in Chattanooga, Tennessee consists of . Originally the site of the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant and operated by the U.S. Department of Defense, a large portion of the property is now home to the Vol ...
in eastern Chattanooga.
The industrial park
comprises land that was once an ammunition plant
known as the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant (VAAP),
which manufactured up to of
TNT (trinitrotoluene) per month during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
, the
Korean War
, date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, and the
Vietnam War
The Vietnam War (also known by #Names, other names) was a conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. It was the second of the Indochina Wars and was officially fought between North Vie ...
.
The Volkswagen facility is near a remaining storage area containing storage bunkers once used to store TNT.
The site features nearby hiking, biking and walking trails, picnic areas, and overlooks, known as the Enterprise South Nature Park.
Models
*
Volkswagen Passat (NMS)
The Volkswagen Passat for the North American and Chinese markets (internally designated ''Volkswagen New Midsize Sedan'', or ''NMS'' while under development) is a mid-size sedan that debuted in January 2011 at the Detroit Auto Show. It replaced ...
(2011–2022)
*
Volkswagen Atlas
The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US and ...
(2017–present)
*
Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport
The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US and ...
(2020–present)
*
Volkswagen ID.4
The Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen ID.5 are battery electric compact crossover SUVs produced by Volkswagen. Based on the MEB platform, the ID.4 is the second model of the Volkswagen ID. series. The production version of the ID.4 debuted in Sep ...
(July 2022-)
File:2012 Volkswagen Passat -- NHTSA 1.jpg, Volkswagen Passat 2011–2018
File:2020 Volkswagen Passat (NMS II), front 8.29.20.jpg, Volkswagen Passat 2019–2022
File:VW Atlas SE IMG 0742.jpg, Volkswagen Atlas
File:2020 Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport SEL, Front Left, 09-24-2020.jpg, Volkswagen Atlas Cross Sport
File:VW ID4 1st Max.jpg, Volkswagen ID4
Design
The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant includes a body shop, paint shop, assembly facility, a Market Delivery Options (MDO) building,
technical testing center, employee training facility with classrooms, an apprentice-training school and a full-size practice paint booth, a supplier park for eight companies,
and a healthcare center with a gym, childcare facilities, and medical services.
The plant has the flexibility to build any of the company's front-engine/front-wheel-drive vehicles in
A,
B, or
C-segment
The C-segment is the 3rd category of the European segments for passenger cars and is described as "medium cars". It is equivalent to the Euro NCAP "small family car" size class, and the compact car category in the United States.
In 2011, the C- ...
s. The rolling-dip
paint shop is sized to handle a wide range of vehicle sizes. The plant is not designed to manufacture large vehicles.> The factory includes 383 robots in the body shop, which is approximately 77 percent automated. There are 4,730 weld spots and 292 welding guns. Output is about 31 cars per hour. The plant is organized with its major process areas – body shop, main assembly, and paint shop – in a stacked configuration with major checkpoints arranged in a concentric-circle layout – to eliminate long walks between factory areas, to investigate a problem, for example. The body assembly line uses
diode laser
The laser diode chip removed and placed on the eye of a needle for scale
A laser diode (LD, also injection laser diode or ILD, or diode laser) is a semiconductor device similar to a light-emitting diode in which a diode pumped directly with e ...
s.
[Secrets of the Superfactories (TV documentary, 2019)]
VW announced it would seek
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a
green building certification program used worldwide. Developed by the non-profit U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), it includes a set of rating systems for the design, construction ...
certification for the complex. In November 2011, VW announced that the 2012 model of the
Passat was named the 2012
Motor Trend Car of the Year
The ''Motor Trend'' Car of the Year (COTY) is an annual '' Car of the Year'' award given by ''Motor Trend'' magazine to recognize the best new or significantly refreshed car in a given model year.
Background
''Motor Trend'', which debuted in ...
. In December 2011, the Assembly Plant became the first auto plant in the world to get the LEED platinum certification. A 9.5 megawatt
solar park
A photovoltaic power station, also known as a solar park, solar farm, or solar power plant, is a large-scale grid-connected photovoltaic power system (PV system) designed for the supply of merchant power. They are different from most building- ...
supplies 13 GWh of electricity per year; 12% of plant consumption.
The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant was designed by the Nashville engineering and architecture firm
SSOE, the firm Environmental Resources Management (ERM) for the environmental permitting process, and Alberici Constructors, Inc. for the construction management of the facility.
The
Port of Savannah, Georgia's Garden City Terminal handles imported auto parts in containers for the plant.
Cost and incentives
Volkswagen invested approximately one billion U.S. dollars to construct the facility, with local, state, and federal governments subsidizing the project with an estimated $577 million in incentives.
Alabama had offered Volkswagen incentives of $385 million, the most the state had ever offered for an auto project. Mississippi offered incentives totaling $294 million to Toyota in 2007 for an assembly plant at Blue Springs. Kia received about $324 million in incentives from Georgia.
Volkswagen had researched 398 possible sites before narrowing the choice to the states of Michigan, Alabama, and Tennessee.
Work council and labor unions
The Volkswagen Chattanooga Assembly Plant has attracted international attention after it was proposed that employees elect a union, in order to implement a
work council
A works council is a shop-floor organization representing workers that functions as a local/firm-level complement to trade unions but is independent of these at least in some countries. Works councils exist with different names in a variety of r ...
that has co-determination, consultation and participation rights with management.
The
United Auto Workers
The International Union, United Automobile, Aerospace, and Agricultural Implement Workers of America, better known as the United Auto Workers (UAW), is an American labor union that represents workers in the United States (including Puerto Rico) ...
attempted unsuccessfully to unionize the Chattanooga plant in 2014. This was defeated in a 712-626 vote. It was backed by Volkswagen and the
IG Metall
IG Metall (; IGM; German: ''Industriegewerkschaft Metall'', "Industrial Union of Metalworkers'") is the dominant metalworkers' union in Germany, making it the country's largest union as well as Europe's largest industrial union. Analysts of Ge ...
union in Germany to negotiate with management on day-to-day working matters at the plant. There was, however, considerable opposition from US business groups and
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
politicians.
The UAW again attempted to unionize the plant in June 2019. This failed by a 52 to 48 percent margin. Unlike in 2014, Volkswagen management was not supportive of the union vote.
Overview timeline
*1988: Volkswagen closes its
Westmoreland Assembly Plant
*2006: Construction completed for the
Interstate 75
Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...
interchange near
Ooltewah, Tennessee
Ooltewah ( ) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Hamilton County, Tennessee, United States. It is a community near Chattanooga. The population was 684 at the 2020 census. Ooltewah is an enclave in the city of Collegedale.
History
Ooltewah wa ...
.
*July 2008: Volkswagen announces its intention to build the Chattanooga Assembly Plant.
*Fall 2008: Preliminary construction begins.
*January 2009: January groundbreaking re-scheduled indefinitely.
*May 2009: Ceremonial "Wall-Raising" (vs. groundbreaking).
*October 2010:
CSX
CSX Transportation , known colloquially as simply CSX, is a Class I freight railroad operating in the Eastern United States and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. The railroad operates approximately 21,000 route miles () of track. ...
and
Norfolk Southern Railway
The Norfolk Southern Railway is a Class I freight railroad in the United States formed in 1982 with the merger of Norfolk and Western Railway and Southern Railway. With headquarters in Atlanta, the company operates 19,420 route miles (31 ...
announced they would again serve the site following the completion of a $6.6 million project to provide dual rail service to the Volkswagen Assembly Plant. The newly completed yard was dedicated on April 6, 2011. Work included "the biggest rail overhaul in and around the Volunteer Army Ammunition Plant since the tracks were laid during World War II."
*April 18, 2011: First Passat rolls off the assembly line.
*April 2011: Completion of the site's $7.5 million 850-foot span steel-and-glass pedestrian bridge and guardhouse.
*May 24, 2011: The plant was inaugurated on May 24, 2011, by
Martin Winterkorn
Martin Winterkorn (born 24 May 1947) is a German former business executive who was chairman of the board of management (CEO, ''Vorstandsvorsitzender'' in German) of Volkswagen AG, the parent company of the Volkswagen Group, chairman of the supe ...
, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Group and the U.S. Secretary of Transportation
Ray LaHood
Raymond H. LaHood (born December 6, 1945) is an American politician who served as the 16th United States Secretary of Transportation from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. A member of the Republican Party, he previously served in the ...
with
Klaus Scharioth, German Ambassador to the United States,
Bill Haslam
William Edward Haslam (; born August 23, 1958) is an American billionaire businessman and politician who served as the 49th governor of Tennessee from 2011 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, Haslam previously served as the 67th mayor of ...
, Governor of Tennessee,
Jonathan Browning, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, as well as U.S. Senators
Bob Corker
Robert Phillips Corker Jr. (born August 24, 1952) is an American businessman and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2007 to 2019. A member of the Republican Party, he served as Chair of the Senate Foreign Rela ...
and
Lamar Alexander
Andrew Lamar Alexander Jr. (born July 3, 1940) is a retired American lawyer and politician who served as a United States Senator from Tennessee from 2003 to 2021. A member of the Republican Party, he also was the 45th governor of Tennessee from ...
in attendance. The actor
Max Page, who played a small version of
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George ...
in a 2011 Volkswagen television commercial, also attended in costume.
*September 8, 2011: The plant manufactured its 10,000th car, a white Passat TDI. The number included pre-series cars, technical training cars, dealer experience cars as well as customer cars.
*November 2011: The Passat is named the 2012 Motor Trend Car of the Year.
*December 2011: The plant became the first auto plant in the world to receive an LEED platinum certification.
*February 7, 2012: The plant manufactured its 50,000th Passat.
*May 2012: The plant manufactured its 100,000th Passat.
*May 24, 2013: The plant manufactured its 250,000th Passat.
*December 14, 2016: The plant starts series production of the
Volkswagen Atlas
The Volkswagen Atlas is a mid-size crossover SUV manufactured by the German automaker Volkswagen since 2017. Developed mainly for the North American and Chinese market, the vehicle is based on the Volkswagen Group MQB platform. Outside the US and ...
.
''VOLKSWAGEN CHATTANOOGA STARTS SERIES PRODUCTION OF THE 2018 VOLKSWAGEN ATLAS.'' Media Site of the Volkswagen of America, Inc.
*January 14, 2019: VW announces at the Detroit Auto Show
The North American International Auto Show (NAIAS), also known as the Detroit Auto Show as of 2022 and prior to NAIAS, is an annual auto show held in Detroit, Michigan, U.S., at Huntington Place. The show was held in January from 1989 to 2019. ...
that the plant will begin building the ID. Crozz crossover and the ID. Buzz van, a reimagining of the iconic van of the 1960s and 70s, in 2022.
*July 26, 2022: Production of the Volkswagen ID.4
The Volkswagen ID.4 and Volkswagen ID.5 are battery electric compact crossover SUVs produced by Volkswagen. Based on the MEB platform, the ID.4 is the second model of the Volkswagen ID. series. The production version of the ID.4 debuted in Sep ...
commenced.
References
External links
Volkswagen of America's Chattanooga plant page
{{Coord, 35, 4, 49.03, N, 85, 08, 08, W, type:landmark_scale:2000, display=title
Buildings and structures in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Volkswagen Group factories
Motor vehicle assembly plants in Tennessee
Economy of Chattanooga, Tennessee
2011 establishments in Tennessee