VW almost didn’t come back to U.S.
Volkswagen chief executive Martin Winterkorn said last week the German automaker had a tough time deciding to make cars in the United States again because of its bad experience in Pennsylvania, according to USA Today.
Winterkorn said at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit that the closing of the Westmoreland, Pa., factory in 1988 left an enduring bad taste in Volkswagen’s corporate mouth.
The Westmoreland plant, a decommissioned Chrysler plant that VW acquired, closed because “management years ago made a mistake — making the Golf an American Golf, and the American customer wanted a German Golf,” Winterkorn said.
Volkswagen announced in July 2008 it had selected Chattanooga to build another U.S. assembly plant, which began making the Passat in the spring of 2011.