TVA’s vehicle test track near Chickamauga Dam is undergoing a lot more use these days.
Newly hired workers for Volkswagen’s assembly plant as part of their orientation to “the VW way” are taken to the oval to drive the German automaker’s cars and get a feel for its products.
“We want to win the hearts of our employees,” said Hans-Herbert Jagla, executive vice president of human resources for VW’s Chattanooga operations.
So far, VW has hired almost 700 people for the Chattanooga plant that’s slated to start production in early 2011.
All the carmaker’s new hires take part in a test drive as a portion of weeks of introducing workers to VW, officials said. It’s part of intensive training leading to actually making the new midsize sedan at the $1 billion plant, they said.