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Mayor Berke says VW officials assure him Chattanooga SUV ‘critical’ to their market strategy
Calming words about Volkswagen’s future in Chattanooga came Tuesday from Mayor Andy Berke, as the company’s stock tumbled another 20 percent, VW’s “diesel deception” widened to include 11 million vehicles worldwide, and the automaker set aside $7.3 billion to help cover costs and fines.
The widening scandal shouldn’t swamp VW’s plans to invest $600 million and create 2,000 new jobs to produce a new sport utility vehicle in Chattanooga, the site of VW’s only U.S. assembly plant, which currently employs about 2,700 people.
“I spoke with VW leadership earlier today to express my concerns about the current situation and what impacts, if any, it might have on the Chattanooga plant,” Berke said in an email Tuesday. “VW officials assured me they are taking this matter seriously and explained how critical the B SUV is to their North American market strategy.”
Berke drives a city-owned diesel VW Passat on city business, and Chattanooga officials were so proud of Volkswagen’s decision to open its plant here that the city spent $266,200 in state grant money in 2012 to paint “Volkswagen Chattanooga” on the factory’s roof in letters 650 feet wide and 208 feet long.
A longtime area VW dealer also downplayed concerns Tuesday, even though the automaker has told its dealers not to sell cars equipped with the 2.0-liter diesel engine this year or next.