Volkswagen Chattanooga will see a new chief executive in January who will lead the plant into the assembly of electric vehicles.
Chris Glover, a 30-year Volkswagen veteran who is executive vice president at Volkswagen of Mexico where he is responsible for production and logistics, will take his new post in Chattanooga on Jan. 1, according to VW.
He will succeed Tom du Plessis, who is retiring after more than two years in Chattanooga. During his term heading the VW plant, du Plesssis oversaw the launch of the Altas Cross Sport SUV and a plant expansion for EV production while directing ongoing factory operations through the coronavirus pandemic.
Glover said that Chattanooga is now focusing on the next generation of auto assembly with production of electric vehicles slated to begin in 2022.
"I am delighted to be joining the team in Chattanooga," he said, adding that "it's a privilege to work with a world-class team and to help in shaping and securing this great future for Volkswagen and our factory in the state of Tennessee."
Scott Keogh, president and CEO of Volkswagen Group of America, said du Plessis "has done a fantastic job in navigating our Chattanooga operations through the past 20 months of uncertainty."
"Perhaps more importantly, it was Tom's commitment to helping us realize our electrified vision here in America that will be his legacy," Keogh said. "Volkswagen is ready to lead the charge, and our expansion in Tennessee is critical to a long-term strategy of EV leadership."
He said that as VW ramps up assembly of the battery-powered ID.4 SUV, Glover's extensive background in production planning will move that strategy, and the industry, forward.
Glover has served in leadership posts in several countries, according to VW. Prior to his stint in Mexico, he was executive director of production planning at SAIC Volkswagen, one of Volkswagen's partnerships in China.
Also, he was head of the division for production planning at Volkswagen of South Africa.
Glover holds a bachelor of science degree in electronic engineering from the University of Cape Town and a business management diploma from Damelin College at Cape Town, South Africa.
du Plessis has led the Chattanooga plant through an $800 million expansion to prepare the factory for production of the ID.4 next year.
He had been director of production at multiple plants in China for five years before coming to Chattanooga and taking over for then-CEO Frank Fischer. Fischer was a former Chattanooga plant chief who returned on an indefinite basis when ex-CEO Antonio Pinto took another post in the spring 2019.
Fischer returned to the top job in May 2019 amid a hard-fought union election at the plant, in which the United Auto Workers lost by a margin of 833 to 776.
du Plessis said in September that Volkswagen is on pace to hire 1,000 more workers at the plant to build the electric SUV in the third quarter of 2022 and add a third shift. The plant currently employs more than 4,000 workers making the Atlas and Atlas Cross Sport SUVs and the Passat sedan. Production of the sedan at the plant is ending this winter.
du Plessis said the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage that has hit the auto industry likely will put the brakes on expectations that the factory will set a new production record for 2021.
"We'll end up with the second highest volume," he said.
Contact Mike Pare at mpare@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6318. Follow him on Twitter @MikePareTFP.