Fall 2007
Editorial
VW Needs to Put up or Shut up
The fact that Volkswagen of America announced recently that it is moving its headquarters from Michigan to Virginia is a good sign that the German automaker may eventually make good on its 15-year-long or more site search for a new assembly plant in the Southern Auto Corridor. VW closed its only U.S. plant, which was located in Pennsylvania, in the late 1980s.
Officials with VW almost got down to business in Alabama in the early 1990s. What happened? Nothing. Other states have courted them, as well as Volvo over the years and neither foreign automaker has pulled the trigger to build a plant in the SAC.
Should I remind them that Honda, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and Nissan have all experienced remarkable results coming from their various $1 billion-plus (that with "B") investments in their new facilities in the Southern Auto Corridor. Foreign auto plants in the South run 24/7 mostly and crank 'em out like no group of automakers in this country.
So, VW, we've heard this before. We would certainly love for your great company to open its newest facility in the Southern Auto Corridor, where your fellow German automakers, Mercedes and BMW are doing so well. But you have been talking about the prospects of this plant for almost two decades now. That being the case Volkswagen, it is high time to put up or shut up.
Michael C. Randle
mike@sb-d.com
