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Volkswagen will Feature ‘European design’ for Car Built in Chattanooga

By: Mike Pare
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Stefan Jacoby

Volkswagen’s new midsize sedan to be made in Chattanooga will offer American car buyers a European design and performance as the automaker seeks to win over the market, a top official says.

Stefan Jacoby, VW Group of America’s chief executive officer, also said it plans to sell a lot of its “clean diesel” vehicles in the United States, with the Chattanooga plant producing up to 30 percent of them.

Mr. Jacoby said it will take time to win over Americans to diesel cars, but he noted the vehicles have a higher residual value.

“The economy will rebound, and we will be ready,” he said about the $1 billion auto assembly plant being built at Enterprise South industrial park.

The factory is slated to open in early 2011 and employ about 2,000 workers, according to VW.

Jochem Heizmann, the German company’s board member in charge of worldwide production, said the automaker believes there is a promising future for VW in Chattanooga and the United States.

“We are moving forward,” he said. “Business will come back. Volkswagen needs to be ready. We have big plans in the U.S.”

The company is aiming to triple sales to 1 million units in the United States by 2018, and the Chattanooga facility is a key element in the plan.

“VW will be a good neighbor and a reliable partner,” Dr. Heizmann said.