Outlook 2018
The new year begins with the strongest economy in Chattanooga in more than a decade. A year-end survey found small businesses owners across America to be as optimistic in their business outlook as any time since the 1980s. Last year, the Chattanooga area added jobs at three times the pace of the country as a whole and the local economy is poised for another year of expansion. As the economic recovery enters its eighth year, sustaining the the same pace of economic growth and momentum is getting tougher, especially in a tight labor market with interest rates expected to edge higher through 2018. Nonetheless, the Chattanooga region is poised for growth this year from more road building, new battery-powered vehicles, additional apartment and subdivision development and continued growth in the region’s changing entertainment and dining landscape.
Chattanooga already has a high-voltage history in electric vehicles with CARTA’s long-running battery-powered shuttle buses. But new and proposed transportation initiatives in the city and region are charging up that reputation even more.
Volkswagen will likely start making electric vehicles in North America by 2023 and the German automaker’s Chattanooga assembly plant could be the location. While no formal action has been taken to make VW electric vehicles in Chattanooga, a SUV concept called the I.D. Crozz that’s slated for sale in the United States in 2020 could be the first.
Plugged In
Electric vehicle sales in the U.S. in 2017 were ahead of 2016 through November. Below are 2017 monthly figures and 2016 comparisons in parenthesis:* January – 11,004 (6,221)* February – 12,375 (7,763)* March – 18,542 (13,857)* April – 13,367 (10,531)* May – 16,596 (11,467)* June – 17,053 (14,863)* July – 15,540 (13,067)* August – 16,639 (14,592)* September – 21,332 (17,224)* October – 14,315 (11,007)* November – 17,178 (13,237)* Total – 173,941 (158,614)Source: Inside EVs
The Volkswagen Group’s board has approved plans to invest some $41 billion globally over the next five years in electric mobility and autonomous driving capabilities, with the intention of being the world’s biggest electric carmaker by 2025.