USA - Volkswagen showcases a new Passat GT Concept, the 3.6 Litre VR6 comes with 280hp, and subtle design changes.

• Designed in America at the Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga, Tenn.
• More than 20 interior/exterior updates create the most aggressive Passat yet
• Combines 280-hp VR6 engine with lowered suspension and sport exhaust

This week at Automobility LA, Volkswagen of America, Inc. will unveil the Passat GT concept, designed by the company’s North American engineering hub in Chattanooga, Tenn. 

Combining fresh styling updates with the powerful 280-hp VR6® engine, the Passat GT concept previews a potential addition to the Passat lineup. 

The concept was created by Volkswagen’s North American Engineering and Planning Center in Chattanooga based on extensive feedback from U.S. customers and dealers.

“The Passat GT is an early example of how the new Volkswagen North American Region will meet the needs and desires of American customers going forward,” said Dr. Matthias Erb, Chief Engineering Officer, North American Region, Volkswagen. 

“We have the freedom and the responsibility to shape future North American vehicles here in the U.S., combining engineering resources from around the world with our unique perspective and talented local team.”

More than 20 design changes from the standard Passat mark the GT as a unique, eye-catching sedan. Starting from the black honeycomb grille insert with red accent lines that harken to those on the Volkswagen Golf GTI, the upgrades include unique bumper treatments, black window surrounds, a black roof and trunk spoiler, LED headlights, smoked taillights, a dual trapezoidal exhaust and a sport muffler. The 19-inch Tornado wheels cover red-painted brake calipers, and a 0.6-inch reduction in ride height gives the Passat GT concept a road-hugging stance.

Inside, the Passat GT creates a sportier impression with carbon-fiber pattern door trim and instrument panel, two-tone black-and-gray sport seats with contrast stitching, a black headliner and piano black center console trim. 

Power comes from the Volkswagen 3.6-liter TSI® VR6, which makes 280 horsepower, tied to a six-speed DSG® dual-clutch automatic transmission, controlled through shift paddles behind the steering wheel

USA - Amid all the scandal of VW fiddling the figures, the day after they launch the new Passat, so, will it sell ?

The Chattanooga-built Passat raises the bar in the midsize segment, offering new styling inside and out as well as a host of new connectivity and driver assistance features

• Striking new front and rear design
• New interior with updated instrument panel and center stack for a more premium feel
• Standard MIB II infotainment system includes USB connectivity
• Available  VW Car-Net® App-Connect supports smartphone integration with Apple CarPlay®, Android Auto™ and MirrorLink®
• Energy-efficient LED headlights and taillights available for the first time on a VW sedan
• New driver assistance systems are standard features on select trim levels
• First-ever R-Line® trim for U.S. Passat offers sportier styling
• Three engine options: 1.8-liter TSI® gasoline, TDI®, and powerful VR6®
• Revised trim lineup provides enhanced value throughout the Passat range
• Pricing starts at $22,440 for the 1.8T S model with automatic transmission
• Built in America, at the world’s only LEED Platinum-certified manufacturing facility

Volkswagen of America, Inc. is pleased to announce the debut of the new 2016 Volkswagen Passat, a midsize sedan that is designed for the American lifestyle and built in Volkswagen’s state-of-the-art factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. The 2016 Passat features a winning combination of design, interior and cargo space, class-leading technology, available driver assistance systems, and powerful, yet frugal, engines. In addition, a revised trim structure will enhance the Passat’s value story.

Design

The 2016 Passat features more aggressive styling than its predecessor, with a new hood, front fenders, grille, front and rear bumpers, trunklid and available LED  headlights and taillights. In short, the only sheetmetal that remains unchanged is the roof, the doors, and the body side stamping.

“We applied a progressive design strategy with the new Passat, giving the car a dynamic presence and a more sophisticated look,” said Klaus Bischoff, Head of Design, Volkswagen. ”We have integrated several new design elements, including a sculpted, domed hood that significantly sets the car apart from its predecessor.”

Slimmer headlights, a more substantial four-bar grille, and the muscular, domed hood all work together to give the Passat a wider, more planted stance from the front. At the back, the new car has a premium European-style flush rear license plate area. Additionally, a new chrome strip on the trunk makes the rear lights appear lower, enhancing the grounded appearance, while chrome on the window surrounds, bumpers, and door trim adds to the premium nature of the design. Available on all trim lines, dramatic LED headlights and taillights provide better lighting performance with reduced energy consumption.

For the first time, Volkswagen is offering an R-Line® version of the Passat. This sporty model features unique rocker panels, a stylized front bumper with contrasting black accents, a modified rear diffuser, and 19” anthracite Salvador aluminum-alloy wheels shod with 235/40 ZR rated tires.

Inside, the 2016 Passat gets an extensively upgraded interior, for a more sophisticated look and feel. A new instrument panel features two large gauges and the center stack incorporates VW’s latest MIB II infotainment system.  The interior also features upgraded materials, a new steering wheel and column stalk design, two-tone décor panels, and refined chrome and piano black trim.  Heatable rear seats are a new available feature, along with Easy-Open keyless access that opens the trunk via moving a foot near the rear of the vehicle.

Technology

The 2016 Passat features Volkswagen’s second-generation “modular infotainment platform”, also known as MIB II. The system features touchscreens as standard equipment on all models. On most models, the display utilizes a capacitive touch sensor (similar to smartphone and tablet technology) enabling gesture controls like swiping and pinch-zooming rather than the resistive touchscreens that require pressure and have slightly longer response times.  Most MIB II units also feature a proximity sensor, which detects when a hand is nearby and automatically switches its display to allow easier selection of specific features. USB and Bluetooth® connectivity are standard on all 2016 Passat models.

The MIB II system also serves as the foundation for the available Volkswagen Car-Net® system, one of the most comprehensive suites of connected vehicle services and features available in the automotive industry today. VW Car-Net includes App-Connect technology, featuring the three major smartphone integration platforms—Apple CarPlay®, Android Auto™ and MirrorLink®. This allows seamless integration with the vast majority of smartphones available today.

Volkswagen also offers a combination of new safety and driver assistance systems in the 2016 Passat. The Automatic Post-Collision Braking System, standard on all 2016 Passat models, builds on the premise that a collision is rarely a single, instantaneous action, but rather a series of events that follow the initial impact—which can cause additional collisions. The system helps address this by applying the brakes after a primary collision is detected by the airbag sensors, thus helping to reduce residual kinetic energy and, in turn, reduce the chance of additional damage.

Depending on trim level, Passat models come equipped with the following advanced driver assistance systems: Adaptive Cruise Control (ACC); Forward Collision Warning and Autonomous Emergency Braking (Front Assist); Blind Spot Monitor with Rear Traffic Alert; Lane Departure Warning (Lane Assist), which actively steers the car back into its lane; and Parking Steering Assistant (Park Assist). All 2016 Passat models have rearview cameras as standard equipment.

Powertrains

The 2016 Passat is available in the United States with three powertrains: the 1.8-liter turbocharged and direct-injection TSI® four cylinder; 2.0-liter TDI®; and the 3.6-liter VR6® engine, which makes 280 horsepower—one of the highest outputs in the midsize sedan class. The 2016 Passat 1.8T has an EPA estimated highway fuel economy rating of 38 mpg with the automatic transmission.

Full pricing for the new 2016 Passat will be available closer to launch later this year, but the 1.8T S model starts at $22,440, which is the same price as the previous base model when equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission. The Passat is produced at the Volkswagen Chattanooga assembly plant, the only automotive manufacturing facility in the world to receive Platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) program.

USA, Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant celebrates the production of the 500,000th Passat sedan.

Volkswagen Chattanooga has achieved a significant production milestone with the completion of its 500,000^th Passat.

The car, produced in the world’s first and only LEED Platinum certified factory, was a Candy White Limited Edition, with black interior, keyless access with pushbutton start, a rearview camera, heated seats, a 170 horsepower, 1.8 liter turbo engine, premium radio and 17 inch alloy ‘Sonoma’ wheels.

“Our Passat has raised the bar on what Americans can expect from a mid-size sedan and the 500,000^th car was built with the same passion for detail as the first,” Christian Koch, President and CEO of Volkswagen Chattanooga. “I’m proud of our team and excited about new products on the horizon in this factory,” Koch said.

Volkswagen Chattanooga is currently undertaking a $900 million expansion to add a second model to the Chattanooga line. The expansion will add 2,000 jobs, the North American Engineering and Planning Center and will produce a 7-seat, midsize SUV.

“Built in Chattanooga, Tenn., the Volkswagen Passat embodies the spirit of America and continues to play a key role in the brand’s U.S. growth strategy,” said Michael Horn, president and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America. “We are very proud of the team at Volkswagen Chattanooga and congratulate them on reaching the milestone of producing the 500,000^th Passat.”

The event will be commemorated on Volkswagen Chattanooga’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts, as the construction of the car was followed from body shop, to paint and finally to the assembly shop and those images will be released throughout the day.

Mercedes-Benz pay their workers the most, while VW and BMW are way down the scale.

Workers at Daimler's Mercedes-Benz plant in Vance, Alabama, have the highest hourly pay among employees at U.S. car factories while Volkswagen and BMW workers earn the least, a study shows.

Daimler workers earn an average of $65 an hour while employees at Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant are paid an average of $38 per hour and workers at BMW's Spartanburg, South Carolina, factory earn $39 an hour, a study of 2014 labor costs by the Center for Automotive Research (CAR) shows.

Labor costs at GM's U.S. plants including benefits are $58 per hour. Ford Motor is right behind GM at $57 per hour while employees at Fiat Chrysler Automobiles earn $48 per hour, reflecting the much higher percentage of lower-paid, entry-level workers at FCA.

The study was released as United Auto Workers officials prepare for contract talks with the Detroit Three. GM, Ford and Fiat Chrysler are the only automakers in the CAR report whose U.S. workers are represented by the UAW.

Among other automakers operating in the U.S., Honda workers earned on average $49 per hour, Toyota $48, Nissan $42, Hyundai and its corporate stablemate Kia $41.

Despite major restructuring since the 2009 recession, GM and Ford still have higher labor costs than their major competitors. The $10 per hour labor cost gap between GM and Toyota translates into roughly $250 a car in additional labor costs for GM, according to data in the report.

Per hour labor cost averages include pay for temporary workers who are formally employed by outside agencies such as Kelly Services but mainly work full-time alongside workers employed directly by the automakers. Japanese automakers have the highest percentages of temporary workers. Having a high number of temporary workers reduces labor costs, CAR analysts have said.

Volkswagen launches all new five seater midsized SUV, to be called the Cross Coupe GTE.

Volkswagen has unveiled a new five-seater midsize SUV concept car at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.  Called the Cross Coupé GTE, it is a plug-in hybrid with all-wheel drive, and previews Volkswagen’s new US design language, combining German engineering with the American way of life.

The new car’s debut at the show, which runs from 12-25 January, comes ahead of the start of production at the end of 2016 of a new seven-seater midsize SUV at Volkswagen of America’s Chattanooga factory in Tennessee.

The Cross Coupé GTE is the third concept car presented by Volkswagen in the run-up to the introduction of the production version.  

Together, all three concept cars – the CrossBlue presented in Detroit in January 2013, the CrossBlue Coupé most recently shown in Los Angeles in November 2013 and the Cross Coupé GTE that is now being presented at the NAIAS – represent just a part of the wide spectrum of SUV variants that can be realised through the modular transverse matrix (MQB), and were developed with the aim of offering an SUV in North America in the near future that is consistently tailored to the US market.

Although the design of all three SUVs was based on the Volkswagen design DNA and they have common stylistic features, the latest model breaks in many ways with previous concepts, and thus increases the momentum towards series production.  

The Cross Coupé GTE measures 4,847 mm long, 1,736 mm high and 2,030 mm wide.  Commenting on its appearance, Klaus Bischoff, chief designer at Volkswagen said: ‘The concept car has a commanding presence; it is powerful with a look that could almost be described as aggressive.  Numerous details hint at how we envisage a future production SUV model for North America.’ 

Powering the Cross Coupé GTE is a 3.6-litre V6 petrol engine in combination with two electric motors.  The six-cylinder direct-injection engine (FSI) delivers 280 PS and maximum torque of 350 Nm, while the two electric motors deliver 40 kW and 220 Nm (front) and 85 kW and 270 Nm (rear).  

They are powered by a compact lithium-ion battery housed in the centre tunnel, with energy content of 14.1 kWh.  The total output of the drive system is 360 PS, and using this full power, the Cross Coupé GTE, which has a top speed of 130 mph (209 km/h), accelerates to 60 mph in just 6.0 seconds.  The Cross Coupé GTE can be driven in five different power modes: E-Mode, Hybrid, GTE, Offroad and Battery Hold / Battery Charge.  

In E-Mode, activated at the press of a button, the Cross Coupé GTE can travel in zero-emission mode for up to 20 miles or 32 km*, and in this case the 85 kW rear axle electric motor alone drives the vehicle, with the V6 FSI decoupled from the drivetrain by disengaging the clutch and shutting down.  But as soon as the six-cylinder engine needs to be restarted due to the battery charge status or other parameters, it engages smoothly in the drivetrain again in a fraction of a second.

The Cross Coupé GTE also has a number of different driving profiles: Onroad (with the sub-modes Comfort and Eco), Offroad (with Rocks, Sludge & Sand and Gravel), Sport and Snow, and each of these changes the set-up and driving characteristics of the car.  Needless to say, the Offroad drive mode is particularly important for an SUV and all four wheels are powered as soon as the driver activates this mode. 

If Offroad is engaged and the battery state of charge is low, the front electric motor is employed exclusively as a generator that is driven by the V6 FSI in order to provide the power for its counterpart on the rear axle.  As the power to drive the rear axle flows by wire and not mechanically, it is referred to as an ‘electric cardan shaft’.  Due to the fact that the FSI drives the rear electric motor via the front electric motor in off-road mode, all-wheel drive is available even when the battery has a low state of charge.

The design of the cockpit reflects the car’s hi tech engine and drivetrain nature, featuring horizontal lines and clear digital controls with intuitive operation.  The new infotainment system is controlled via a 10.1-inch touchscreen, while a 12.3-inch Active Info Display – similar to that recently previewed on the new Passat – allows extremely high-quality interactive graphic presentation of all details in the digital dashboard.  The Cross Coupé GTE features sports seats at the front and a three seat bench in the rear, which can be folded 1/3 or 2/3, creating a continuous flat cargo floor.

*due to different type approval procedures the electric ranges for the USA and Europe cannot be compared on a 1:1 basis.

USA plant chosen to be new midszied SUV home for Volkswagen.

• Winterkorn: “This model will play a key role for Volkswagen’s presence in North America”
• Volkswagen Group of America to invest approximately $900 million in the project
• Second model to be produced in Chattanooga, in addition to the US-built Passat, starting from the end of 2016
• Approximately 2,000 additional jobs to be created
• Establishment of a National Research & Development and Planning Centre in Chattanooga
• Group Works Council Chairman Osterloh to be named a member of the Board of Directors of Volkswagen Group of America

Within the framework of its Strategy 2018 plan, the Volkswagen Group is expanding its industrial footprint in the US. The Board of Directors of Volkswagen Group of America has decided to award the production of the new midsize SUV to the Chattanooga plant in Tennessee. The Group will be investing a total of approximately US$900 million (€643 million) in the production of a newly developed, seven-passenger SUV, and creating 2,000 additional jobs in the US. About US$600 million (€432 million) will be invested in Tennessee.

“The United States of America is and will remain one of the most important markets for Volkswagen. Over the past few years, we have achieved a lot there. We are now launching the second phase of the Volkswagen campaign in the US. With the midsize SUV, the expansion of the Chattanooga plant and the new development centre, the focus is on the wishes of the US customer. This is also a strong signal for the US as an industrial and automobile production location. The Volkswagen brand is going on the attack again in America,” said Prof. Dr. Martin Winterkorn, Chairman of the Board of Management of Volkswagen Aktiengesellschaft, in Wolfsburg.

“The Chattanooga-built midsize SUV will allow us to fulfil the wishes of our dealer network, bringing new customers to our showrooms and additional growth for the brand,” said Michael Horn, President and CEO Volkswagen Group of America. “We are eager to be entering this growing vehicle segment with a world-class, seven-passenger SUV from Volkswagen.”

Apart from investing in the production of a new vehicle, the Chattanooga location is to receive a new, independent National Research & Development and Planning Centre of the Volkswagen Group of America for project coordination in the North American market. The objective is to identify customers’ feedback in the market and to integrate them more expeditiously into existing and planned vehicle models. This will lead to the creation of approximately 200 qualified engineers working in Chattanooga. This decision is another element in the investment programme that the Volkswagen Group has launched in the region. From 2014 to 2018, the Volkswagen Group will be investing more than US$7 billion in the US and Mexico. It is Volkswagen’s goal to deliver 800,000 vehicles in the US by 2018.

"Today is an exciting day not just for Chattanooga and Hamilton County but for all of Tennessee, and I want to thank Volkswagen for its significant long-term investment in our state,” Governor Bill Haslam said. “The impact of this announcement goes far beyond the 2,000 new jobs because of the large multiplier effect of the automotive industry, and adding an additional manufacturing line and the National Research & Development and Planning Centre sends a clear signal that Tennessee can compete with anyone in the global marketplace.”

Christian Koch, CEO and Chairman of Volkswagen Group of America Chattanooga Operations, said: “We are proud to be making the new midsize SUV here. This is fantastic news for the plant and proof of the confidence placed in the workforce that does a great job here making high-quality cars every day.”

At Chattanooga, the new SUV will be integrated into existing plant structures. Existing areas in production will be used for the assembly of the midsize SUV. A total floor space of 50,000m² (approx. 538,000 sq ft) will be added to the existing production facility. The midsize SUV, which is based on the CrossBlue concept vehicle, was developed especially for the North American market. The CrossBlue made its global debut at the 2013 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

Today, Volkswagen also announced that the Chairman of the Group Works Council of Volkswagen, Bernd Osterloh, will join the Board of Directors of Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. "We are pleased that Mr. Osterloh has declared his willingness to play a concentrated role in shaping our US strategy in the future. He will represent the views of the workforce. This is in line with the codetermination culture of Volkswagen, which is one of our key success factors,” Prof. Dr. Winterkorn said.

Mr. Osterloh stated: "It is important for us that our colleagues in the U.S. know that we also care about the production site and the employment in Chattanooga. I am looking forward to my work on the Board. I am determined to uphold the interests of Volkswagen employees in Chattanooga. The North American market offers considerable opportunities; in my opinion, these have not been pursued with sufficient consistency in the past. With today’s decision to produce the midsize SUV in the USA, we are taking a key step.”