Photo: Volkswagen
Chattanooga Operations LLC is Volkswagen’s production plant in the United States. Inaugurated in 2011, the site takes care of Passat and Atlas production for North America. But Chattanooga doesn’t have the capacity that Volkswagen wants from it, which is why the Wolfsburg-based automaker is considering two courses of action.
Speaking to Automotive News, chief executive officer Herbert Diess said “the Chattanooga plant could grow.” But in light of the partnership with the Ford Motor Company, Volkswagen could also “build another plant to expand North American capacity for EVs and perhaps a pickup.”
Negotiations started for a partnership focused on commercial vehicles, but the most recent reports on Volkswagen and Ford suggest that electrification could also be one of the talking points. More specifically, the Modularer Elektrobaukasten of the I.D. Neo electric hatchback could be shared with the Ford Motor Company.
Turning our attention back to Diess, the head honcho acknowledged “the plant is still too small, and we are considering different options; it might be electric cars, it might be a different derivative of the Atlas - it’s still open.” Based on wording, Volkswagen wants to settle the talks with Ford before deciding on what solution would work in their best interest.
The closest Volkswagen plant from Chattanooga is Puebla in Mexico, the largest site of the automaker outside of Germany. At the present moment, Puebla is busy with the Golf, Beetle, Jetta, and Tiguan. Because the Beetle will bite the dust after the 2019 model year, there’s no denying that Volkswagen has something new in store for Puebla.
Looking at the bigger picture, the strategic partnership would benefit Volkswagen the most in the United States. Ford, on the other hand, is having trouble in markets such as Europe and India. Even though such a collaboration would benefit both parties, wouldn’t it also dilute each of the two brands?
To some degree, yes. But in the long run, sharing development costs and technologies would keep both companies afloat, whatever the future may throw at the automotive industry.
Negotiations started for a partnership focused on commercial vehicles, but the most recent reports on Volkswagen and Ford suggest that electrification could also be one of the talking points. More specifically, the Modularer Elektrobaukasten of the I.D. Neo electric hatchback could be shared with the Ford Motor Company.
Turning our attention back to Diess, the head honcho acknowledged “the plant is still too small, and we are considering different options; it might be electric cars, it might be a different derivative of the Atlas - it’s still open.” Based on wording, Volkswagen wants to settle the talks with Ford before deciding on what solution would work in their best interest.
The closest Volkswagen plant from Chattanooga is Puebla in Mexico, the largest site of the automaker outside of Germany. At the present moment, Puebla is busy with the Golf, Beetle, Jetta, and Tiguan. Because the Beetle will bite the dust after the 2019 model year, there’s no denying that Volkswagen has something new in store for Puebla.
Looking at the bigger picture, the strategic partnership would benefit Volkswagen the most in the United States. Ford, on the other hand, is having trouble in markets such as Europe and India. Even though such a collaboration would benefit both parties, wouldn’t it also dilute each of the two brands?
To some degree, yes. But in the long run, sharing development costs and technologies would keep both companies afloat, whatever the future may throw at the automotive industry.
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