Volkswagen is to become a key, profitable volume supplier in North America, too. The brand is going on the offensive in the region with the new models tailored to the American market. Two new models will be launched on the US market each year until 2020: this year sees the debut of the new Jetta and the Arteon, with the new Passat and a further SUV to follow in 2019 – all based on MQB technology. The first of a new family of full battery-electric vehicles will be added starting in 2020 and will be based on the newly developed Modular Electric Toolkit (MEB). In the next three years alone, the company will invest a total of more than US$3.3 billion in North America.
North American region
Press releases
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Volkswagen breaks ground on expansion for electric vehicle production in United States
Volkswagen of America marked the start of construction for its electric vehicle production facility. The Chattanooga site, where production begins in 2022, will be Volkswagen's North American assembly base for electric vehicles on the Modular Electric Drive Matrix (MEB). The company also announced it intends to build a plant for the assembly of battery packs for EVs at the Chattanooga site. -
Volkswagen and Microsoft share progress on strategic partnership
Volkswagen and Microsoft are sharing progress on the development of the Volkswagen Automotive Cloud, discussed today by Dr. Herbert Diess, CEO of Volkswagen AG, and Satya Nadella, Microsoft CEO, during a joint visit to the Volkswagen Digital Lab in Berlin. The Volkswagen Automotive Cloud is to be extended step-by-step to further regions of the world and to be available in Europe, China and the USA – the core markets for the future full-electric, fully connected ID. model family. Volkswagen and Microsoft are also working together on first lighthouse projects for connected vehicle services, and progress has been made in the set-up of Volkswagen’s new Development Center in North America. -
Location decision in North America: Volkswagen to build new generation of electric cars in Chattanooga
The Volkswagen brand is forging ahead consistently with its electric offensive and has now announced the first production location in North America. In future, the Chattanooga plant in Tennessee is to produce vehicles based on the modular electric toolkit MEB, a new generation of electric cars. For this purpose, Volkswagen is investing about €700 million ($800 million) in the plant. The expansion of the plant will create up to 1,000 new jobs plus additional jobs at suppliers. The first electric car from Chattanooga is to roll off the production line in 2022. Over the next few years, eight MEB plants are to be developed in Europe, North America and China. Volkswagen is building up the production capacity needed to sell more than 1 million electric cars per year by 2025. -
The Volkswagen highlights of 2018: Electric mobility and new SUV models set the trends
Volkswagen has set an important course for the future in 2018: As the first model of the future ID. family, the zero-emission compact ID. has reached the final phase of series development. In addition, with the avant-garde ID. VIZZION saloon and the racing car ID. R Pikes Peak, Volkswagen demonstrated two more fascinating facets of electric mobility. SUVs are booming worldwide: Volkswagen followed this trend in 2018 with nine new Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV) – from the urban T-Cross to the Touareg brand flagship. Various models of different segments like the new Virtus (South America), the attractive up! GTI (Europe) or the Jetta (North America), however, made it clear that Volkswagen serves every region of the world with specific cars. This has resulted in great success: Between January and November, unit sales rose by around 280,000 year-on-year to 5.7 million Volkswagen vehicles. -
Scott Keogh named head of Volkswagen Group of America
Scott Keogh, head of Audi of America, was named president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America as well as head of the Volkswagen brand for the North American region. Keogh, who joined Audi in 2006, will succeed Hinrich J. Woebcken, who led the successful transformation of Volkswagen in North America. Woebcken will remain with the company as an adviser. Keogh’s successor as president of Audi of America is Mark Del Rosso, president & CEO of Bentley Motors, Inc., Americas, and former chief operating officer of Audi of America. Scott Keogh and Hinrich J. Woebcken are to take up their new positions effective November 1, 2018 and Mark Del Rosso effective December 1, 2018. -
Mexican President Enrique Peña Nieto visits Volkswagen
The Mexican President, Enrique Peña Nieto, visited the Volkswagen Group headquarters in Wolfsburg today (Monday) during his trip to Germany. Peña Nieto met for talks with Hans Dieter Pötsch, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, and representatives from the Group and its brands. The talks focused in particular on the importance of Mexico as a production and sales location for the Volkswagen Group. The program also included a tour of production at the Wolfsburg plant and a visit to the Autostadt. -
Volkswagen is reinforcing its SUV campaign in the USA by adding another model
After the successful market launch of the Atlas on the American market, Volkswagen is extending its model range with another SUV. This new SUV is based on the Atlas, has five seats and sports a coupé-like roof line. Already offering a preview of the new model is a near-production concept car that will be presented at the New York International Auto Show next week. Like the seven-seat Atlas, this new five-seat version will also be produced at Volkswagen's plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and it was specially designed and developed for the American market. -
Volkswagen makes rapid progress in realigning its North American strategy
The Volkswagen brand continues to vigorously pursue its regional consolidation strategy in North America: Today Volkswagen launched the seventh generation of its most successful high-volume model in the region when the new Jetta celebrated its world premiere on the eve of the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The Jetta is tailored precisely to the needs of customers in North America. -
Matthias Müller: "The USA is and remains a core market for the Volkswagen Group."
The Volkswagen Group is firmly standing by its commitment and investment plans in the US. "The US is and remains a core market for the Volkswagen Group," CEO Matthias Müller affirmed at a press conference in Detroit on Sunday. On the eve of the North American International Motor Show which takes place there, Müller also expressed his regret about the events relating to the emissions issue. "We know we deeply disappointed our customers, the responsible government bodies, and the general public here in the US. I apologize for what went wrong at Volkswagen," Müller said, and promised: "We are totally committed to making things right." -
Volkswagen inaugurates solar park in the USA
Today, the Volkswagen brand has inaugurated its largest solar facility in the world at its US plant in Chattanooga. The Volkswagen Chattanooga Solar Park has a peak output of 9.5 megawatts and is the largest solar facility operated by an automaker in the USA. The environmentally compatible power is to be used for Passat production