Over 15 inches of rain since Dec. 1 is hindering work at Volkswagen’s planned plant site, causing workers to lose about three weeks of the past four, an official said Wednesday.

Porsche SE has bought 50.8 percent of Volkswagen common shares, according to the company.

The National Labor Relations Board has dismissed a charge related to a contract dispute in which contractors claimed union groups were trying to drive up wages on the Volkswagen project.

Volkswagen AG reported Monday its United States sales fell 14 percent in December from a year earlier

Groundbreaking for Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant has shifted to March, a couple of months later than the January timeframe the company initially planned.

Volkswagen’s top official in Chattanooga says that when he came into the city earlier this year to view the potential site for the automaker’s newest assembly plant, it made a big impression.

Volkswagen’s impact in the Chattanooga area is expected to be immense, but it won’t occur overnight, some business people say.

Innovation is a mainstay of business growth, and a Chattanooga company used a novel approach to try to become a Volkswagen supplier that also helped fill children’s Christmas stockings.

Volkswagen’s plan for building its $1 billion Chattanooga auto assembly plant remains “on schedule,” an official said Thursday, even as a contractor readies to start construction of the first structure.

Volkswagen on Wednesday put aside questions about its new Chattanooga auto assembly plant, announcing it is set to begin work on the facility’s $30 million paint shop.

While Toyota suspends work on its Mississippi project, Volkswagen is moving toward taking over the site for its new plant as it prepares to begin the construction of the first building, officials said Tuesday.

While plummeting vehicle sales have indefinitely postponed Toyota’s plans to build its Prius hybrid in Mississippi, Tennessee Gov. Phil Bredesen expressed confidence Tuesday that the recession will not affect Volkswagen’s plant to build an auto assembly plant in Chattanooga.

Volkswagen and its suppliers likely will add about 6,000 more passenger boardings annually at Chattanooga Metropolitan Airport, about 2 percent more than existing traffic, officials said Monday.

A report that Volkswagen leaders will discuss cost-cutting measures at a management meeting in Germany this week does not affect the company’s plans for its Chattanooga assembly plant, a company spokeswoman said Saturday.

The tri-state area must think and act as a cohesive region in order to take advantage of the opportunities made available by the Volkswagen assembly plant coming to Enterprise South industrial park, officials said.