Volkswagen’s plan to turbocharge its expansion project at its Chattanooga plant won the approval of a city panel Tuesday, helping position the German carmaker to refocus on growing its vehicle line and sales in the United States.
“It doesn’t surprise me,” said Kelley Blue Book analyst Karl Brauer about the new work that will boost the footprint of the original plant expansion by about 25 percent. “It’s part of a longer term play [VW] has got going.”
The city Industrial Development Board gave its approval to a plan that adds nearly $18 million to the contract of Gray Construction to enlarge the plant’s body shop beyond its original scope of work.
City Engineer Bill Payne told the board that VW is paying for the changes at the south end of the body shop. That’s where VW is adding about 130,000 square feet of space above its original expansion plans.
The Chattanooga Volkswagen plant between Tyner and Ooltewah is shown.VW officially started work on its plant expansion in January to increase the factory’s size by more than 500,000 square feet. The addition is part of VW’s plan to build a new sport utility vehicle and employ another 2,000 workers in Chattanooga.