Car Part Supplier Announces 325 Jobs to Chattanooga

"It’s a really good day in Hamilton County when you’re able to add over four hundred jobs," said Hamilton County mayor Jim Coppinger.

Yanfeng Automotive Interiors, the world’s largest car interior part supplier, announced they will be setting up shop on Brookshire Drive in Chattanooga to begin building car parts for Volkswagen.

The result?

Hundreds of new jobs created for the Chattanooga middle class.

"We’re creating 325 new middle class jobs for this community and that’s big for a city like Chattanooga," said Chattanooga mayor Andy Berke. "When you have a world class company like Volkswagen, they’re going to attract big suppliers like Yanfeng and we’re glad to see them here."

Headquartered in Shanghai, Yanfeng makes panels for instruments on car dashboards, floor and overhead consoles, and door panels.

And the company has plans to manufacture for cars beyond Chattanooga.

"They’ll also be positioned to go beyond other auto manufacturers in the southeast so we’re excited to have them here and we hope that we’ll continue to see them grow in our area," said Berke.

Volkswagen has a vested interest in keeping manufacturing close as well.

"Volkswagen is really looking to bring a number of suppliers to our area," said Berke. "That lowers the cost of the goods that they have to buy and that brings their cost down, making them more profit. That’s what we want because we want them to build more cars in Chattanooga, get more cars in the future, and to keep the jobs that we have here now."

And the future is looking bright for Chattanooga as international companies like Yanfeng consider the scenic city an excellent place to do business.

"It shows a lot of confidence that people have globally for this particular area," said Coppinger.

Remington Industries, who also makes parts for cars in Chattanooga, announced Tuesday they will be adding 89 new jobs as well.