Rows of new Passats await delivery Tuesday at the Volkswagen manufacturing plant in Chattanooga’s Enterprise South industrial park.HAIL DAMAGEVolkswagen reported that a storm last April damaged more than 100 cars at its Chattanooga plant. Auto dealers in the area also said several hundred vehicles sustained hail damage at their lots.
Recalling the hail produced by some of last spring’s violent storms, Volkswagen is spending about $5 million on a massive net to protect part of its car-loading yard at its Chattanooga plant.
Officials said the first phase of work will cover about half of its 5,000-space yard with the so-called “hail net.”
“It’s an affordable solution to what can be a serious problem,” said John Saunders, chief executive of USAShade & Fabric Structures Inc. of Dallas, Texas, which is installing the net.
According to VW, hail nets already have been installed at the Nissan assembly plant in Smyrna, Tenn., and the Honda factory in Lincoln, Ala.