The VW logo is seen on the front of one of dozens of new Passats made at the Chattanooga Volkswagen assembly plant parked outside the plant. These cars will be used as demos for testing, internal quality control and press test drives.

In spite of global economic troubles, Volkswagen Group today laid out plans to invest up to $65 billion worldwide over the next three years.

"Despite the challenging economic environment, we are investing more than ever before to reach our long-term goals," said VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn in a statement following a meeting of its board of supervisors.

While more than half the figure will be invested in its home base of Germany, VW also cited planned spending in other parts of the globe, including North America, specifically citing in a news release a new vehicle production facility for Audi in Mexico.

In Chattanooga, VW already has said it would plow about $7 million into its assembly plant this year to bolster production by about 20,000 units, pushing capacity to some 170,000 vehicles annually.

Also, Winterkorn said earlier that Chattanooga would present itself as an option for producing a sport utility vehicle and a decision could be made next year.

Such an SUV likely would be positioned between VW's existing Tiguan and Touareg models, officials have said.