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Looks like Chattanooga is on the short list for the new Volkswagen plant
along with Michigan and Alabama. Volkswagen plans on making the final
decision in July. This is very exciting for my little town, but we've been
disappointed before by other manufacturers after being on their short lists
as well so we'll have to wait and see what happens.
On the flip side of that...if they produce a German car in the United
States...is it still a foreign car? Do you think they lose quality?
97Talonchik
From the way Toyota has been advertising the Tundra as an American built
truck, I can't see it as a bad thing, but then again you are comparing a
Japanese car to a German car. But I think the selling point for German cars
is the engineering. It will still have the same engineering if it is built
in the states, it will just be Americans that turn the wrenches.:2cents:
dvdrose18
Well VW has been making their cars in Mexico for quite a few years now and
they just plain went down the gutter since then. I think it will be better
here, and yes its still a foreign car. My civic is build in Canada for
example, its still Japanese, not Canadian.
newyorker
Honda have/had a factory in Swindon in the UK and quality seemed to
remain....Although there was some strange weather proofing going on on the
underside of tyhe vehicles (a small niggle, but one that sticks out in my
mind, lol)
Cliffy
Anyone think my car is British?
It's where the name came from if you ask me.
jedimario
This is where we have to ask ourselves what makes a car from a certain
country.
I'm gonna say where the company is based is where that car is from.
Lots of car companies are setting up plants in the U.S., but quality should
remain good (or maybe get better). Don't forget, you get what you pay for,
and these plants pay really good.
chris_knows
Im curious to see whats going to happen to Jaguar and Land Rover now that
they will be in India.
newyorker
Honestly, does it really matter anymore? I'm guessing the engineering is
all still being done by the same people, and even the people that work the
assembly lines just operate mechines. The cars won't change, they're
selling to the same people as before, and the quality won't either.
Production costs will still be much less than the big 3, because I'm
betting these new VW plants will be filled with non-union workers.
giant016
VW used to have plant in Westmoreland, Pennsylvania. The early cars there
were indeed subpar compared to the cars coming from Germany, due to the
difficulties of getting the plant functional. But, that wasn't the only
reason it was closed finally in '88.
Who knows, maybe this time around it will be different for VW.
ChrisV
I think some people will see it as a plus...mainly the ones that are all
about buying American. I sincerely hope they don't sacrifice quality for
saving some Euros by this move, even though it does bring much needed jobs
to the recession strickened states. I guess we will have to wait and see. I
don't know how long it will take to get the first cars off the production
line but I assume that will really answer the hard pressing questions.
97Talonchik
I dunno, my recent experience with my VW has been extremely subpar,
quality-wise.
I had NO IDEA these cars were so f__kin high-maintenance.
I love driving it, but I hate spending 3 grand on the tranny because you
cant repair it...you have to replace the entire unit.
VW sucks.
And if it's any consolation, being built in America....it will probably
suck even moreso for that.
:mrgreen:
2JZ-GTE
So.... no good VW's since the 60's or whenever they started production in
Mexico?
windsonian
Never said they were all bad, but ones with a German build origin certainly
stand head and shoulders above the Mexican alternative. My buddy has a 2.0
Golf that is German built and the car is great, no problems ever. Another
has a GTI that is Mexican built, and its rubbish. I think moving to the US
is a good move for VW, but we gotta wait to be sure. Build quality on them
is excelent, very well designed, very safe, fit and finish is excelent, but
they are not dependable cars for the most part, hence why I never caught on
to them, or any other European cars except for BMW which are fantastic I
think in all respects. Great to drive, and they last a while too.
newyorker
The reasons foreign car companies are setting up in the US is not quality -
these are business decisions based on tax laws, customs and tariff laws,
need for updated facilities, taxpayer sponsored tax breaks (corporate
welfare) and availability of labor. Most likely the reason VW is looking @
Chattanooga, Diamler Benz is building in Tuscaloosa, Al, etc is the cost of
labor, utilities, corporate taxes, American import fees and tariffs, etc
causes it to be more expensive to build the car in Germany then in the US.
The weakening of the US dollar against the Euro helps this matter as
well.
The next time you buy an American car, look @ the final assembly point -
about 1/2 of GM's are built in Mexico or imported Daewoos from Korea
tbaxleyjr
A friend of mine would only own american cars for years. She feels it helps
the US by giving americans work. The last car she bought was an eclipse.
Before anyone could comment on her new Japanese car she said, "It was put
together in the US."
I also recall when Toyota joined up with NASCAR their arguement was the
camry they were racing was built in the US. So it wasn't "unamerican"
As far as quality goes I would imagine the plants are all ISO
(International Standards or Operations) So if any difference, it would be
un-noticed.
DBain
Might as well update on this. Things are looking good from what I've heard
on the news, though this is similar to where we were with the Toyota plant
they thought we were going to get...so no getting our hopes up. VW reps
from Germany visited during our "Riverbend" festival to get an idea of the
"quality of life" and a few days later they also took a tour of the
building where you get construction permits.
It is reported that VW is looking for a site that is completely clear of
vegetation and has a clear line of sight so when you get to the property,
you can see how the land lies. Chattanooga was just approved a $1.25
million dollar grant for improvements at the possible future site of VW,
where they have already begun clearing the land and are currently working
on diverting some streams that run through the area.
97Talonchik
:clap: am old vwbuff but i only play with 60s an 70s strander bug gota love
them now am restoring a 67 baja could use some help thx bug67 :oop all
good bugs were last built in ger
bug 67
Tough question, i guess if an American company is manufacturing the cars
then it makes it American
need4speed
Is Chinese food that's made in America American food? Just my :2cents:.
giant016
Yes, because we use REAL meat. :laughing:
97Talonchik
Cats are meat too.
giant016
It would just make them American Built.
Same with some Hondas being assembled in Canada, BMW in Tennessee (sp), VW
in Brazil and Mexico.
I think what it comes down to is the quality of the parts AND the quality
of the assembly. You cant have just 1/2 good and expect to build a good
car. VW is known for shoddy electrics, actually a lot of German companies
are, and I think that unless they fix the PARTS, the assembly point will
have little impact on quality, but I'm sure thats not their main intention
with this move.
newyorker
Oi wtf just happened?!!
fudge
I have a feeling that Bav deleted the post above yours (which was spam) and
accidentally clicked yours too.
chris_knows
It wasn't even spam and was somehow relevant to the topic.
Anyway there's alot of chinese food in America which come from animals
apart from chicken, pig, beef, lamb or fish. Shark fin soup
anyone??:drool:
fudge
Very true - the main problem my parents had with their Mercedes C230 was
electrical
tbaxleyjr
I live across town from Talon..
A car plant would be nice for Chattanooga since our legacy industrial
economic base dried up several years - tourism such as the aquarium down
here and the other attractions does not provide the type jobs which pay
enough to buy houses and cars and has kept salaries in other
industries/sectors driven low. Tourism, on the other hand has been good
since it got our downtown area which was full of drug dealers and other
forms or urban rot in the late 1980's cleaned up and policed and is now
reasonably safe to visit at night.
in this area, we really need both types of industries to create a diverse
economic base.
I would be interested in knowing what tax breaks the State of Tennessee and
Hamilton county are offering to try get VW in here.
tbaxleyjr
Apparently you have been to Coolidge park after dark, lol. Plus, yeah it's
safer downtown because they knocked down the projects and most of those
people moved into Hixson and Red Bank. You should see my old alma mater
now. :doh:
97Talonchik
Where did you go to school?
You do have a point about Cooledge park at night (especially within past yr
or so)
I haven't seen too many issues in Hixson at least where I live but do heard
of interesting stories about some parts of Red Bank
tbaxleyjr
VOLKSWAGEN NEWS CONFERENCE UNDERWAY:clap:
A news conference is underway about the selection of Chattanooga for a new
Volkswagen manufacturing plant. The news conference being held at the
Hunter Museum with the Tennessee River as a backdrop.
Matt Kisber, the Tennessee Commissioner of Economic and Community
Development opened the news conference. He said this is the most important
event in his political tenure.
Kisber introduced Stefan Jacoby, the President and CEO of Volkswagen of
America.
Applause broke out as Jacoby made the first public statement "Volkswagen of
America is building it's next plant in Chattanooga."
Next he said, "Why?"
In answering his own question, he thanked the states of Michigan and
Alabama for their interest.
"Something in our gut, or maybe in our heart... looking across the
mountains and across the rivers, the intangible suddenly became very
tangible. This is America at its best," said Jacoby.
He said with the new facility, they expect to triple their sales in the
United States. He admitted that, like in a marriage, there will be good
times and bad times in carrying out this aggressive plan.
Jacoby praised business and government leaders for "visionary leadership"
that compliments that of Volkswagen. He specifically named Governer
Bredesen, Senators Corker, Alexander, Congressman Wamp and Mayors
Littlefield and Ramsey.
Jacoby ended by saying, "We are looking forward to a longterm partnership
and marriage with Chattanooga and Tennessee."
Governer Bredesen then took the podium saying, "Danke schön" which mean
"thank you" in German.
"They have their backs (to the audience) right now, but I wish you could
see the smiles on Mayors Littlefield's and Ramsey's face right now," joked
the Govorner as he praised their hard work.
The Governor said that the area "had a mission" and set about accomplishing
that mission.
"I wish Washington would take note of what Chattanooga did," he added to
another round of applause.
Hamilton County Mayor Ramsey took the podium saying, "They've given me two
minutes tell you about 15 minutes of my life.... What a good day, what a
good day," he said with emotion.
Mayor Ramsey's grandchildren were in the audience. He spoke of the drams he
had for his grandchildren and thanked Jacoby "for making my dreams come
true."
Mayor Littlefield said he told Jacoby that he had promised his wife a new
Volkwagen if they decided to locate their plant here.
He said Mayor Ramsey suggested combining normally "highly-competitive" city
and county workforces to prepare the Enterprise South site.
We're been through the rodeo before," said Senator Bob Corker. "I don't
know of a greater event in this community in my lifetime."
"I'm happy for our citizens, our children and our grandchildren," said Sen.
Corker. "But there is no one that I am happier for today than Claude
Ramsey. I'm so glad this happened under his watch."
Senator Lamar Alexander said that with today's announcement, he expects
Tennessee to become the number one state in the nation for automotive
jobs.
Congressman Wamp joked how, among all the happy people, is Nelson Bowers,
the owner of a local Volkswagen dealership.
Congressman Wamp said that for each of the 2,000 jobs created at the
Volkswagen plant, we should expect an additional seven "support jobs."
"That's 14,000 jobs," he said. ""It was just a matter of time before a
major auto manufacturer decided to locate at Enterprise South - and our
time has arrived."
97Talonchik
sounds like a fine place to live and work.
Just a little curious as to where they got there numbers from, but it is a
very interesting concept. Is it because of an ability to cut costs, or is
it also a marketing gimick?
I wonder how long it is before you actualy see these jobs. how long before
the plant is up and running. Sure, there will be a few construction jobs
right away, and some "support jobs," but with the dollar as weak as it is
right now, are locals going to be hurting for the next 5 years before they
see a return on their "investment". Whose pocket is that $1.25 million
grant comming from, and what is going to pay for the accompanying expansion
of government. Not to be a pessimist, but I just looked at my paycheck the
other day and realized that more than 20% of it was eaten before I even got
it. I would not be too happy to find that it was given to VW to build a new
plant.
dvdrose18
This area is beautiful. I would die without the mountains to look at.
97Talonchik
The $1.25 million was committed by the State of Tennessee back toward the
end of June - the investment is expenditure of our state tax dollars. I
don't know what tax breaks were given by the City and County on top of the
State.
This $1,25 million will offset some infrastructure work which needs to be
done before building a car plant.
Mercedes did a good job with some of their investments in and around
Tuscaloosa AL (I noticed when going with my daughter to University of
Alabama for orientation last month)
Plant is supposed to be operational around 2011
People consider this an investment since other spending will generate
enough tax dollars to more than offset the investment.
tbaxleyjr
I grew up outside of Knoxville over in Blount County between Wildwood and
Walland. I enjoyed mountains. Before being transferred to Chattanooga, I
lived between Johnson City and Kingsport TN and really enjoyed the
mountains in that area and in the surrounding Virginia and North Carolina
areas.
Your pics from Mount Hood last year made me miss Upper East TN
I'll miss visits to Western North Carolina after moving my oldest daughter
and her husband (the one a couple of yrs younger than 97Talonchik) to
Tuscaloosa next week - yes both daughters will be in Tuscaloosa studying
various programs @ University of Alabama. Tough on a University of
Tennessee Alum
tbaxleyjr
So it was a state thing, which I guess is reasonable as most of the state
will see the benefits of the plant. Somehow I assumed it was federal
money.
I guess I just have a problem with government giving away money, but I
assume there was some form of ballot or something before they agreed to
spend the money.
2011 is quite quick compared to some of the stuff that has dragging on
around here, but I guess the sooner it is done the sooner they turn a
profit so there is more of a push to get it done.
dvdrose18
Yes, the site is pretty much ready. At the moment, they are working on
permits from the EPA to re-route some small streams that run through the
area and also clearing out some trees. VW wanted a clear view of the plant
from the street. Other than that, they already have the interstate private
exit built (the city did that after losing the Toyota plant for that
reason). They also already have railways running through the site (which
was another requirement of VW).
Further, they mentioned the possibility of putting a smaller facility in
the Huntsville area and running a railway between the two. I guess we'll
see what happens here in the next few years, but this could be good news
for that area.
97Talonchik
