Filed under: Plants/Manufacturing, Volkswagen
The South may rise again thanks to VW
It's been a rather short trip from VW asking whether it would build a factory in the U.S. to saying "Ja" and closing in on two locations. The decision on where the factory will be hasn't been made yet, but spots in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia are the leading candidates.Plans apparently call for a large plant, and VW wants it churning out cars by 2011. So the company needs at least 1,000 acres, and it needs to get to work on it immediately. If VW went with the site in Rocky Mount, NC, it would be placed about midway between VW's future corporate headquarters in Virginia and the cluster of suppliers around BMW's Spartanburg, SC plant. But VW is also scouting land in Anderson, SC.
Yet, even though VW hasn't announced the location, the Rocky Mount land appears to be in play. A deal for a large parcel is scheduled to close later this month. Said the farmer who owns most of it, although he hasn't met the buyers, "All I know is I'm selling it to a bunch of Germans." The plant, wherever it ends up, will build cars for North America and Europe.
[Source: Auto News, sub req'd]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
the law 7:22PM (1/14/2008)
wonder what they will build here?
Audi, VW or Seat.
researching VW group,Seat is planned to land in USA soon 2009+
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Ed 11:55PM (1/14/2008)
Hey Law, I'm not sure if I'm reading your post correctly. Are you saying that Seat is planning to sell cars in the US? Where did you see this report?
the law 2:17AM (1/15/2008)
SEAT is also positioned to launch in the United States sometime after 2008, although this has yet to be verified as a certainty.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SEAT
Rene Curry 7:25PM (1/14/2008)
Can we say weaker dollar!
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Bill 9:48PM (1/14/2008)
why not Florida?
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3seriesisking 10:49PM (1/15/2008)
GEORGIA!!
B-Rad 9:52PM (1/14/2008)
They shouldjust buy Ford's old plant in Norfolk, Va and use that. Everybody around here would love them for it.
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Jeffro 10:01PM (1/14/2008)
I hear that, since tube TV's have gone the way of the Dodo, Sony has some land available in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania. VW should buy there. What a crazy idea.
The Other Bob 9:23AM (1/15/2008)
"They shouldjust buy Ford's old plant in Norfolk, Va and use that. Everybody around here would love them for it."
That would be great, but unfortunately old plants do not produce cars in an efficient and high quality way. In the last 8 years GM has built two assemble plants and some stamping plants in the Lansing, Michigan area and tore down 3 old plants.
It's not that GM is wasteful, it's just that the old architecture does not facilitate just in time delivery systems and the space needed for modern manufacturing systems.
Newer plants allow access all around the building, open space without obstructions (columns) and everything on a single level, among other factors.
B-Rad 11:17AM (1/15/2008)
Well, of course they would have to make some changes. After all, Ford used the plant to build F-150s, VW doesn't make pick-ups. But buying this plant would give them some land and a building to work with. Ford could likely use the money (one reason for VW to not do it), and the Hampton Roads area would welcome the new jobs.
davesss 10:02PM (1/14/2008)
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m1038/is_n6_v35/ai_13246858/pg_1
Can you say 'Westmoreland'?
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Jeffro 10:04PM (1/14/2008)
Wow, 1 minute later and I missed my chance> Ha ha . Cheers!
rick 10:48PM (1/14/2008)
Another American sellout (the farmer). Pretty soon we won't have anything left of value for ourselves or our children...
Sounds like a waste of a thousand acres to me.
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Nathan 8:07PM (1/18/2008)
Oh noes! Some farmer sold his 1000 acre beet farm for a tidy sum so that VW can bring jobs to the skilled and unskilled labor markets of NC! What ever will we do!
Demand an injunction against construction immediately, or our children will not have precious, precious beets!
Selling land within the boundaries of the United States to a "bunch of Germans" doesn't mean the land gets shipped to Germany sir. That land will still be producing a product and generating jobs and tax dollars for the local economy, but at a much higher rate.
Everyone wins except..you?
Mal Fuller 11:50PM (1/14/2008)
VW had better move fast finding production capacity since they tell us they're going to pass Toyota by 2012.
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RWD fan 12:05AM (1/15/2008)
If they go with NC they'll have the benefit of it being a Right to Work state, which keeps the UAW out. That's a good thing.
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Xcountryflyer 12:33AM (1/15/2008)
Let's all flock to the South--cheap cheap relatively uneducated labor.
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Short-shift90 7:08AM (1/15/2008)
You really have no idea what your talking about.
Mike 4:24PM (1/15/2008)
Contrast and compare "relatively uneducated" with "totally ignorant"...if you can.
Auburn 5:48PM (1/15/2008)
I don't like the way you're talking about the South. We happen to be well educated people, and people like to favor our places better than anywhere else.