Chattanooga VW will build another SUV here

NEW YORK, New York (WDEF) – First there was the Passat.

Now Chattanooga is building the Atlas SUV in Chattanooga.

And now the company confirms they will build a smaller SUV at their Chattanooga plant soon.

Reuters reports that VW Group of America Chief Hinrich Woebcken broke the news at the New York auto show this morning.

He says they will build a 5 seat SUV in Tennessee, but he didn’t say when production will begin.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Woebcken described the new SUV as a “brother or family member” of the Atlas.

Since it would share the same architecture and supply chain, it is too early to say whether Volkwagen will add new workers here.

They added 2,000 to build the Atlas.

The company is showing off their two larger SUV’s designed for the U.S. market at the show.

They made news on Tuesday by announcing plans to double the length of their warranties on both the Atlas (being made now in Chattanooga) and the newly designed Tiguan.

The six year/72,000-mile bumper-to-bumper coverage will be transferable to subsequent owners.

And it exceeds warranties by competitors Toyota and Ford.

“We’re confident in the reliability and workmanship of these SUVs, and we want our customers to be confident in their purchase,” Hinrich J. Woebcken, chief executive of Volkswagen Group of America said. “We believe this warranty will lead to reduced cost of ownership for Volkswagen owners.”

The extended warranties will only apply to the SUV’s, not the cars in their product line.

We’ve announced big news at #NYIAS! See more information about our 2018 SUV New Vehicle Limited Warranty here: https://t.co/L3urhNrJ1s pic.twitter.com/hOxrHg6GCU

— Volkswagen USA (@VW) April 12, 2017