Volkswagen's launch of its Chattanooga-built car at the Detroit auto show Monday may be the most important week in the company's 55-year history in America, VW's U.S. chief said Friday.
"That is a pivotal moment for us," said Jonathan Browning, CEO of Volks-wagen Group of America, in a telephone interview on the eve of the North American International Auto Show.
Browning also said the quality of vehicles made at VW's new $1 billion Chattanooga assembly plant is of "paramount importance" for the company.
"The ownership experience, the driving experience, the quality, the reliability, the durability -- all those things are really, really important to our long-term success," he said.
Browning, named to the automaker's top U.S. post in September, said officials are "very happy, very excited" about the yet-unnamed midsize sedan on which the company is pinning many of its hopes in growing sales.
He said this is the first time the German automaker has both designed and built cars in America for Americans.
"We've never had this combination," Browning said. "Clearly, Chattanooga, the facility, the suppliers, all of the employees, the communities around it, are a big, big part of this pivotal moment for the company."
Building cars again in the U.S. brings VW a deeper connection with the market, he said. VW's last U.S. assembly plant, in Pennsylvania, closed more than 20 years ago.
The Chattanooga plant means VW has engineers and market experts who spend more time in the States, learning more about consumer requirements and culture, Browning said.
"You won't be successful if you're an outsider in the marketplace," he said. "You have to really understand the heartbeat in the market."
JONATHAN BROWNINGJob: Volkswagen Group of America CEOAge: 51Nationality: BritishEducation: Holds a master's degree from Duke UniversityExperience: Veteran of General Motors and Ford; joined VW earlier this year and took current post in SeptemberQuote: "You won't be successful if you're an outsider in the marketplace."
The company has hired more than 1,200 workers at the 2 million-square-foot plant at Enterprise South industrial park, where production is to start within weeks.
Trevor Hamilton, the Chattanooga Area Chamber of Commerce's vice president of economic development, said VW still plans to bring on at least another 800 workers.
There is also an opportunity for the company to expand at the site, he said, as well as growth in the adjacent VW supplier park.
In 2010, VW grew U.S. sales by 20 percent over the prior year, and the company is targeting nearly a tripling of sales to 1 million by 2018.
"We do have some aggressive goals," Browning said. "The most important thing is we have to deliver products that connect with U.S. consumers."
The auto business focuses on products that are correctly positioned, designed, engineered and marketed for a given market.
"What we're seeing with the new midsize sedan is a product that is tailored to the U.S. marketplace," Browning said. "It's a product that's much more accessible than equivalent products from Volkswagen in the past."
He said, for example, the car is priced to reach out more broadly into the market. The new sedan is expected to sell for thousands less than the existing Passat that it's replacing. The Passat sells for about $26,000.