(July 14, 2014)  WOLFSBURG, Germany — Within the framework of its Strategy 2018 plan, the Volkswagen Group is expanding its industrial footprint in the U.S. deciding to award production of a new mid-sized SUV at its Chattanooga, Tenn., plant.  The announcement was made this morning. The plant currently builds the Passat sold in North America.

Volkswagen will be investing approximately $900 million in the production of a newly developed, seven-passenger SUV, and creating 2,000 additional jobs.

“The United States of America is and will remain one of the most important markets for Volkswagen. Over the past few years, we have achieved a lot there. We are now launching the second phase of the Volkswagen campaign in the US. With the midsize SUV, the expansion of the Chattanooga plant and the new development center, the focus is on the wishes of the US customer. This is also a strong signal for the U.S. as an industrial and automobile production location. The Volkswagen brand is going on the attack again in America,” said Martin Winterkorn, chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen.

“The Chattanooga-built midsize SUV will allow us to fulfill the wishes of our dealer network, bringing new customers to our showrooms and additional growth for the brand,” said Michael Horn, president and CEO Volkswagen Group of America. “We are eager to be entering this growing vehicle segment with a world-class, seven-passenger SUV from Volkswagen.”

Apart from investing in the production of a new vehicle, the Chattanooga location is to receive a new, independent National Research & Development and Planning Center of the Volkswagen Group of America for project coordination in the North American market.

The objective is to identify customers’ feedback in the market and to integrate them more expeditiously into existing and planned vehicle models. This will lead to the creation of approximately 200 qualified engineers working in Chattanooga. This decision is another element in the investment program that the Volkswagen Group has launched in the region. From 2014 to 2018, the Volkswagen Group will be investing more than $7 billion in the U.S. and Mexico. It is Volkswagen’s goal to deliver 800,000 vehicles in the U.S. by 2018.

At Chattanooga, the new SUV will be integrated into existing plant structures. Existing areas in production will be used for the assembly of the midsize SUV. A total floor space of 538,000 square feet will be added to the existing production facility. The midsize SUV, which is based on the CrossBlue concept vehicle, was developed especially for the North American market. The CrossBlue made its global debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.