The Volkswagen Group has taken its place among the world's top three automakers thanks to the Wolfsburg-based company's outstanding delivery figures in the first half of 2008. Rival Ford had to settle for fourth position.

"We are delighted that the Volkswagen Group has made it to the global automobile industry's top three for the first time. This shows that we are on the right track with our ever-stronger international presence and, above all, our product program. We will systematically push ahead with our growth course even in the present difficult market environment," Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, commented.

With 3.31 million vehicles delivered in the first half of 2008, the Volkswagen Group increased deliveries in the first six months of this year by 7.2 percent, moving up to third place in the global vehicle sales ranking and overtaking its rival Ford, which announced vehicle sales of 3.22 million for this period.

Labels: Volkswagen

Labels: Volkswagen

Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. announced today that it will build a U.S. automotive production facility in Chattanooga, Tenn., where it will produce a car designed specifically for the North American consumer and invest $1 billion in the economy. The announcement is an important element of the company’s overall U.S. strategy of connecting with its customers, increasing its competitiveness and tripling its U.S. customer base in the next decade.

“The U.S. market is an important part of our volume strategy and we are now very resolutely accessing that market,” said Prof. Martin Winterkorn, CEO of Volkswagen AG. “Volkswagen will be extremely active there. This plant represents a milestone in Volkswagen’s growth strategy. We will be selling 800,000 Volkswagens in the U.S. by 2018, and this new site will play a key role. This, along with our growth strategy, is a prerequisite for the economic success of the company in the dollar region. We look forward to establishing an important mainstay for ourselves when we become the biggest European carmaker there.”

“This is a significant step forward in achieving our goals in the U.S. market and a clear sign of the Volkswagen Group’s commitment to the North American consumer. Today’s decision is a fundamental part of our new strategic direction in the U.S. and our five-pillar strategy,” said Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America. “Chattanooga is an excellent fit for the Volkswagen culture, having an exceptional quality of life and a long manufacturing tradition.”

The company will build the facility in the Enterprise South Industrial Park, located 12 miles northeast of downtown Chattanooga. The 1,350-acre site is 100 percent owned by the city of Chattanooga and Hamilton County and is certified as an industrial megasite by the Tennessee Valley Authority. Enterprise South is adjacent to Interstate 75. Initial production capacity for the facility is anticipated to be 150,000 vehicles, including a new midsize sedan designed specifically for the North American market. Production is scheduled to begin in early 2011.

Labels: Volkswagen

After considering several states for a new U.S. manufacturing facility, Volkswagen seems ready to break ground for the plant in Huntsville, Alabama.

VW reportedly favors the location due to an incentive package offered by the state's government. Although details aren't currently available, the incentives offered by Alabama supposedly eclipse those offered by Tennessee or Michigan, states also considered for the factory.

VW still considers locating the factory in Chattanooga, Tennessee, as a second option. Automotive News claims the leading factor in preferring Huntsville was that Alabama could meet the automaker's construction timeline; Tennessee could not.

Labels: Volkswagen

As the deadline nears for Volkswagen to choose between sites in Huntsville and Chattanooga for a proposed U.S. plant, here's the latest rumor: Both cities may get good news.

MetalBulletin.com, a London-based publication covering global metal markets, reported Thursday that the German automaker could end up calling both sites home.

Citing an unnamed state economic development official, the report said VW was leaning toward a site in Limestone County recently annexed by the city for an assembly plant and is interested in a Tennessee Valley Authority "megasite" in Chattanooga for an engine plant.

Labels: Volkswagen

Labels: Volkswagen

Extolling his own thoughts on design amid the current world – “constraints are what promotes creativity” - he described VW as being immersed in a process of defining their design language as Audi had already done to achieve the quality and diversity necessary. Audi design DNA was “understood by everyone in the company” he said, “right down to the smallest details”.

VW design would “return to simple (design) language that’s easy to understand - a clear hierarchy of grilles and rear-end treatments”. Key words and phrases had been coined during the process, he said, such as timeless, consistent, unique, responsible, history, quality, solidity, simplicity and coherent design transmitting responsibility; there was talk of VW design reflecting social evolution.

Lamborghini: Affable Chief Engineer Maurizio Reggiani was unwilling to say anything about its construction other than “Composite materials will be most important in the future – especially cheaper ones” and “the power to weight ratio is key, and everything we can do to get the weight down is vital to the project”, reinforcing the belief that Lamborghini will finally abandon its traditional welded steel chassis in the pursuit of strength with lightness.

Labels: Volkswagen

The latest reports from within Volkswagen indicate that the Michigan site that had been in contention for Volkswagen’s U.S. plant has fallen behind the two sites in the southern U.S. Volkswagen’s final decision is still at least a month away, but officials in Alabama and Tennessee are doing everything they can to entice the German carmaker to their state.

Labels: Volkswagen

A North Alabama industrial recruiter used a childhood game to hint Thursday at the possible location of a Volkswagen plant in Limestone County.

Godfrey, who is based in Decatur, in his opening remarks asked his audience to bear in mind the word “kerplunk.”

“But we must stress patience. There is some intense behind-the-scenes activity going on. That brings me back to ‘kerplunk.’ That was a game we played as kids when we would go on trips with our parents and every time we saw a Volkswagen Beetle we would say ‘kerplunk.’ At the end of the trip the person with the most kerplunks won. We’re hoping that everyone in North Alabama will be able to say ‘kerplunk’ in the near future.”

Labels: Volkswagen

The new platform, dubbed PQ25, will find its way underneath a handful of new models, spanning the range from the low-end (SEAT), mid-grade (VW) and luxury (Audi). All-wheel-drive won't be an option for the new SEAT Ibiza, but consumers of the next VW Polo (specifically the CrossPolo) might be able to outfit their tiny runabout with AWD, while the Audi A1, due out in late 2009, will continue the automaker's love affair with quattro.

Labels: Volkswagen

VW group of America president Stefan Jacoby (pictured) said on Wednesday that the list of potential locations had been narrowed to Alabama, Michigan, and Tennessee. “We reviewed many excellent sites and the process to narrow down the locations was not an easy one,” said Jacoby.

Jacoby went on to say that the company was evaluating things like site readiness, logistics, and of course cost, as it continues to mull over the U.S. facility. VW has said that the strengthening price of the euro is what’s ultimately driving its move, with the currency’s strength against the U.S. dollar making America a logical target for production.

Labels: Volkswagen

Volkswagen Chairman Ferdinand Piech would like Europe's largest car company to complement its stable of brands by acquiring a motorbike maker, he told German magazine Stern.

"I would still like a small, valuable motorcycle manufacturer," he said in an interview held jointly with his cousin, Wolfgang Porsche, who chairs the Porsche supervisory board.

Piech said he still regretted missing out on Italy's Ducati when it was in trouble in 1985 and a buyer could have snapped it up for peanuts.

"I myself drive a Ducati. 180 horses and more power per kilogram weight than a 1,001-hp Bugatti," said the Austrian, who will turn 71 on Thursday.

Labels: Volkswagen

Shanghai VW, Volkswagen's 50-50 joint venture with Shanghai Automotive Industry Corp (SAIC), is expected to acquire the remaining assets of Fiat's passenger car joint venture Nanjing Fiat, according to SAIC.

'Preparations for Shanghai VW to assemble its current car models at Nanjing Fiat are ongoing,' SAIC said in a statement posted on its website.

Labels: Volkswagen

Martin Winterkorn, Volkswagen’s chief executive, said on Thursday that the days of building one car for the whole world were “dead and buried”.

VW will introduce 20 new models in the next three years, including vans and pick-ups, as part of a plan to sell 8m cars by 2010 – up from last year’s 6.2m.

Mr Winterkorn said he hoped to beat Japan’s Toyota in sales and profitability, as well as other measures such as customer satisfaction and quality, although he refused to give a timescale.

“In the coming years, we will make the VW group the world’s most international carmaker. The days of a ‘world car’ are dead and buried. Our customers in China or India expect us, as a global player, to offer entirely different solutions than we do in the US or western Europe,” he said at VW’s annual press conference.

Labels: Volkswagen

Volkswagen has officially announced its status as the official vehicle sponsor of the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing. More than 10,000 athletes from roughly 200 countries will converge on the city and will compete for medals in 28 events.

The VW-supplied vehicles will include various models from the Volkswagen, Skoda, and Audi brands and will be used by athletes, officials, and guests throughout their stay in Beijing.

VW cars have also been selected as the official fleet vehicles for the international Olympic Torch Relay traveling from Greece to China.

Labels: Volkswagen

Volkswagen's chief of North American operations on Friday outlined plans to more than triple sales of the German automaker's brands in the United States over the next decade through aggressive marketing and by taking advantage of growing demand for clean diesel fuel.

"Diesel is back," said Jacoby, who noted Volkswagen's traditional strength in the diesel car market. "We see clean diesel at a tipping point."

Labels: Volkswagen

The benefits of the design include extremely fast shift times, in some cases taking only 8 milliseconds, barely any power less because of the lack of a torque converter, faster acceleration because there’s barely any dip in power when the gears are changed, and better fuel economy than both conventional and automatic transmissions.

Labels: Volkswagen

Volkswagen, in the process of moving its North American headquarters from Detroit to Herndon, has dozens of jobs to fill at its new Northern Virginia location, and that number is expected to grow.

VW has more than 80 job openings for Herndon listed on its corporate Website currently. VW spokesman Steve Keyes less than 200 of the 400 positions eventually housed in Herndon will be relocations from Detroit, meaning job openings could top 200 here. Jobs range from administrative and sales positions to information technology and senior executive openings.

Salaries aren't posted along with job descriptions, but VW "obviously has to be competitive within the marketplace," said Keyes.

Labels: Volkswagen

Labels: Volkswagen