Volkswagen Sharan undergoing testing at the AutoEuropa plant in Palmela, Portugal

Volkswagen is planning to open a new test track in Tennesee to accompany the $1 billion plant the automaker is opening in Chattanooga. The plant is being built to assemble a new family sedan targeted specifically towards the American market, and the test facility will be used to develop the vehicle. However it could also serve as a location for customers to pick up and try out their new vehicles in the security of a closed-track setting.

Volkswagen pointed out that the track, which will join the company's existing Gila Bend facility in Arizona, won't necessarily be a high-speed circuit, pointing towards the track at its headquarters in Wolfsburg, Germany, where vehicles never exceed 85 mph. High speed testing takes place primarily at the company's Ehra-Lessien track, with a six-mile straight that allows for Veyron-style 250-mph runs. No more details were offered on the nature of the test track, but we're sure more will become available as construction progresses in Chattanooga, so stay tuned.

[Source: Chattanooga Times Free Press via The German Car Blog]