George Marcu with TI Automotive, left, shows a fuel tank for a Volkswagen GTI to Allen Zhang with
Cold Headed Fasteners on Friday at a Volkswagen minority purchasing and trade show at the
Chattanooga Convention Center.
Steven Salvatore, right, with Chattanooga Seating Systems, talks with Ian Davies with Volkswagen on Friday, Oct. 17, 2014, at a Volkswagen minority purchasing and trade show at the Chattanooga Convention Center in Chattanooga.Volkswagen’s new innovative way of assembling cars, including its planned midsize sport utility vehicle, assures the growth of the Chattanooga plant, an official said Friday.
“The SUV opens more doors than simply a new vehicle. It’s our ticket to the future in Chattanooga,” said Ian Davies, VW Group of America’s general manager for product purchasing and supplier readiness.
The production platform enables VW to design and produce a variety of vehicles by sharing parts among them. It will provide more production opportunities for the plant as well as possible added business for suppliers, Davies said.
“The platform’s whole point is that it allows for much more flexibility,” said Davies, who spoke to about 70 people representing potential minority parts suppliers for the SUV that will be made starting in late 2016.
Dubbed the modular transverse toolkit, the global platform is part of the $900 million that VW is investing as it expands and retrofits the Chattanooga plant to assemble the SUV.