(March 23, 2012) CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. —Amid rising sales of the redesigned Passat, Volkswagen says it will add 800 jobs at its Tennessee plant to boost production of the mid-sized sedan.

The move will increase the factory's workforce to 3,500 by year end and push the automaker closer to its new goal of building more than 170,000 Passats annually in Chattanooga by 2013.

VW previously planned to build 150,000 Passats a year by 2013.

The new jobs, which will add a third team to the factory's two-shift rotation, will allow the plant to operate 10 hours a day, six days a week per shift and help increase output from a current daily rate of 500 to 550 cars, VW officials said.

The bulk of those cars will be built for sale in the United States, but VW also plans to export some models to Mexico and South Korea.

Source: Automotive News