VW SUPPLIER PARKVW has identified five tenants that will take residency in the on-site supplier park set to open this summer at the Enterprise South industrial park.The suppliers will provide key components and logistics to the new midsize sedan set to begin production in early 2011.Suppliers in the park will be:Chattanooga Seating, front and rear seats, 140 jobs. Faurecia, front and rear exhaust system, 35 jobs.Magna Exteriors & Interiors, front and rear fascia, 25 jobs.Mtek, headliners and door panels, 40 jobs.Thyssen Krupp, front and rear axles and corner modules, 90 jobs.In addition, a wheel supplier and logistics services provider, both not publicly identified, will provide up to 170 more jobs.ABOUT GESTAMPGestamp Corp. was the first Volkswagen supplier to land at Enterprise South industrial park.It is building a $90 million plant that will make parts for the midsize sedan VW will produce in Chattanooga.Constructing its factory on a 49.7-acre tract less than a mile from the VW plant site, the company plans to employ 230 workers within three years at the plant, said Jeff Wilson, Gestamp’s president.Headquartered in Michigan, it is a subsidiary of Gestamp Automocion, a privately held company based in Madrid, Spain.Gestamp generates $7 billion in sales each year through manufacturing operations at 75 sites over the world.Gestamp supplies Volkswagen in various countries in Europe and has new plants in Russia, India and Argentina that will supply Volkswagen.
Volkswagen’s $1 billion auto assembly plant will lead to “a bright future” for the region’s young people, Hamilton County Mayor Claude Ramsey says.
But, he said, they’ve got to be encouraged “to get a good education and be prepared and trainable.”
VW, in its effort to ramp up for an early 2011 production start, is hiring people every month, said Hans-Herbert Jagla, executive vice president of human resources for the automaker’s Chattanooga operations.
So far, VW has hired more than 700 people for the Chattanooga plant under construction at Enterprise South industrial park.