Volkswagen’s launch of its Chattanooga-built car at the Detroit auto show Monday may be the most important week in the company’s 55-year history in America, VW’s U.S. chief said Friday.
“That is a pivotal moment for us,” said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volks-wagen Group of America, in a telephone interview on the eve of the North American International Auto Show.
Browning also said the quality of vehicles made at VW’s new $1 billion Chattanooga assembly plant is of “paramount importance” for the company.
“The ownership experience, the driving experience, the quality, the reliability, the durability — all those things are really, really important to our long-term success,” he said.
Browning, named to the automaker’s top U.S. post in September, said officials are “very happy, very excited” about the yet-unnamed midsize sedan on which the company is pinning many of its hopes in growing sales.