(March 10, 2015) Volkswagen de México has announced that a three-row version of the Tiguan crossover will be produced at its plant in Puebla, Mexico. The car will be launched to the markets in 2017. The company will invest $1 billion for the expansion and modernization of its production facilities at the Puebla plant, as well as tooling to produce auto parts at suppliers.

Volkswagen de México’s strategy of technological upgrading, which started with the production of the new Golf on the Modular Transverse Matrix (MQB) platform, goes to the next step with the new Tiguan.

“Localization has become key to safeguarding our competitive position on the global market and manufacturing the Tiguan in Mexico will bring production closer to the U.S.-market,” said Michael Horn, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America.

“It is another proof point that Volkswagen is committed to further growth in the U.S. and North American markets. With production of the Golf A7 and the Tiguan now moved to Puebla, we will build approximately 90 percent of our products in the NAFTA region."

Volkswagen specified that the production capacity for this longer Tiguan will be 500 units per day. This model will be supplied to North and South America, as well as other world markets (excluding the European Union and China).

For production of this compact SUV, new lines will be installed at the Puebla plant. The new body shop will include a high level of automation with advanced programming and control systems.  All told, the new buildings will add 90,000 square meters to Volkswagen de México’s Puebla facilities.

The project will add around $1 billion annually to Volkswagen’s auto parts purchasing volume in Mexico. This will create a significant impact on local economics and employment. At Volkswagen de Mexico alone, Tiguan production will employ about 2,000 people.