Donald Trump threatens to punish European automakers with punitive tariffs – this is precisely the situation in which Volkswagen announces a major investment in Tennessee.
VW plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee
Monday, 19.03.2018
22:12
Volkswagen once again puts a lot of money in his SUV offensive in the US. For the production of a new five-seat city SUV “Made in America” another about 340 million dollars (276 million euros) to the plant in Chattanooga in the state Tennessee be invested, said VW.
The announcement takes place in the middle of the commercial saber rattling between the EU and the US, whose president Donald Trump with punitive tariffs on cars of European manufacturers threatens.
The new VW model is a smaller version of the 2017 launched on the US market SUV Atlas, for its production, the company had already invested about 900 million dollars in Chattanooga. A first concept version of the new SUV is to be presented at the New York Auto Show, which begins on 30 March.
Since 2011, the US version of the Passat has also been manufactured at the Chattanooga factory.
Altmaier is optimistic
VW wants to expand its hitherto low US market share with new models. Although the sales trend was positive in the past, the exhaust gas scandal had previously allowed sales to collapse. Overall, demand for off-road vehicles in the US has increased significantly. This also benefits VW.
The German-American economic relations are currently burdened by the dispute over imminent tariffs. On Monday evening, however, the Federal Minister of Economics expressed optimism Peter Altmaier (CDU). After a conversation with US Secretary of Commerce Wilbur Ross, he considered an amicable solution feasible.
“We both felt there were going to be crucial talks this week and it’s possible to come up with a solution that can prevent a slide into a serious trade conflict,” Altmaier said in Washington. “That’s not sure, but I see a chance.”
US President Trump imposed new protective tariffs on steel and aluminum imports, which have not yet come into force. This increases the concern about a trade war, the export European champion Germany would hit particularly hard.