VW Breaks Ground on Expansion for U.S. Electric Vehicle Production

By Michael Dabaie

Volkswagen of America said it began construction on its electric vehicle production facility in Chattanooga, Tenn.

VW said production will begins in the facility in 2022, and it will be Volkswagen's North American assembly base for electric vehicles.

Volkswagen said it began long-range EV production earlier this month in Zwickau, Germany, and will then roll out assembly worldwide, including in Anting and Foshan, in China, in 2020 and in the German cities of Emden and Hanover by 2022.

Volkswagen said its investment of about $800 million in the Chattanooga facility will require the addition of about 1,000 jobs. Production of VW's ID. CROZZ vehicle is set to begin in Chattanooga in 2022.

The expansion of the plant includes a 564,000-square-foot addition to the body shop. Volkswagen will build both internal combustion engine vehicles as well as battery electric vehicles on the same assembly line.

The company also said it intends to build a 198,000-square-foot plant for the assembly of battery packs for EVs at the Chattanooga site.

Write to Michael Dabaie at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

November 13, 2019 12:29 ET (17:29 GMT)

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