The new Passat takes a test drive

photo VW employees Andreas Linke, GM of quality assurance, who is the driver, and Christian Grauel, quality field specialist, travel south on Volkswagen Drive while field testing a 2012 VW Passat SEL 2.5 on Wednesday.

With the new Volkswagen Passat heading into production next month, managers at VW's Chattanooga plant are driving test versions of the car daily around the factory to give workers feedback on quality.

"I think there is no other [auto] plant doing something like that," said Frank Fischer, VW's chief executive in Chattanooga.

Fischer said the plant has adopted an internal slogan-"Passion for Detail"-and the daily approval drives by managers are part of the factory's quality effort.

The drives around the Enterprise South industrial park plant typically take 30 to 45 minutes, Fischer said, and several cars rotate among more than 20 drivers.

"So it's quite an effort," he said.

The local drives are in addition to endurance testing for extreme cold and heat conditions that the cars are being put through at locations VW isn't identifying.

"We're still undergoing final endurance testing until March," Fischer said.

PASSAT LAUNCH

Quality and reliability are seen as keys to the success of the all-new Passat-a car that will serve as a linchpin to VW's efforts to drastically grow sales in North America this decade.

VW officials have said the German automaker is investing about $4 billion in the effort, including $1 billion into its new Chattanooga assembly plant.

Michelle Krebs, senior analyst for the auto website Edmunds.com, said the launch of new vehicles is vital for an automaker.

"It's making sure the quality is right. It's making sure you're getting a steady increase in production," she said. "It's very important these days."

Don Jackson, the Chattanooga plant's president of manufacturing, said the development of the factory's work force is going well.

"Our local team understands the pride VW has ... and they're building it in the process as we go," he said.

Hans-Herbert Jagla, executive vice president of human resources in Chattanooga, said nearly all of the plant's production workers have no auto experience. The plant's managers made the decision to hire its production workers from Hamilton County, he said.

At the same time, it has hired management-level personnel with experience from all over the U.S., Jagla said.

VW plans to ramp up production of ready-to-ship Passats in March and have the cars to dealers in June and July. The car will go on sale in the third quarter, according to VW.

The Chattanooga-made car is larger than the old Passat and will start at about $20,000, according to VW, compared to a starting price of about $26,000 for the existing Passat.

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Fischer said the Chattanooga plant's body shop has produced about 500 test bodies so far as it tries to refine the process.

While early car bodies were painted at VW's plant in Mexico, all the painting now is done in the Chattanooga plant, he said. VW plans to have eight exterior colors, he said.

Fischer said the VW test vehicles will be scrapped. The first autos assembled for true production will go toward VW's research and development, he said.

In terms of who will receive other initial cars, such as political or other leaders, that issue still is under discussion, officials said.

The Chattanooga plant is to produce about 150,000 vehicles a year and employ between 2,000 and 2,500 workers.

SALES LEADERS

VW's all-new midsize Passat and its compact Jetta are expected to be the company's sales leaders in the United States in the future, officials said. The automaker aims to nearly triple VW brand sales to 800,000 vehicles in America by 2018.

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