Staff Photo by Jenna Walker/Chattanooga Times Free Press
Reece Martin, who has been working at Village Volkswagen for one and a half years, cleans the floor of the service center in Chattanooga. The dealership is expanding its service bays in a $1 million expansion.With VW expecting U.S. sales to power up by 20 percent in 2011, dealers continue to grow operations with Chattanooga’s Village Volkswagen planning a $1 million expansion.
“This will get us prepared for the decade,” said Dale Smith, the dealership’s general manager.
Smith said Village Volkswagen plans to double its parts and service operation and provide more parking at its International Drive location, which opened just 2 1/2 years ago.
He said the project will increase the number of service bays from 16 to 32. Smith said the dealership has property behind it on which to grow.
Many VW dealerships have expanded or are doing so to handle sales growth due to customer interest and aggressive goals set by the German automaker, officials say.