Alabama Not So Keen on Volkswagen?

[Jill Jusko]

That's what this article from al.com implies, anyway. The reason? Because of "concerns the German automaker is negotiating with union leaders to organize its proposed $1 billion assembly plant, according to state officials familiar with the project," the article reads.

Alabama is a right-to-work state, the article notes, with multiple foreign-owned, non-unionized facilities.

Volkswagen is staying tight-lipped about it all, saying that it is still evaluating whether to build a plant in the U.S.

[Jon Burger]

Looks like Volkswagen has made a decision -- Tennessee. Read an article about it here.

The PR verbiage is all happiness and sunshine, which is interesting (sort of), given the stories about picking a location. Here's a link to Jonathan Katz's blog entry on the "competition" earlier on.

[Frank Chloupek]

Here's The IndustryWeek take on the matter, via AFP.

Volkswagen Selects Tennessee for New Plant

Falling dollar plays role in automaker's move into the U.S.

Volkswagen said July 15 it has selected Chattanooga, Tenn., as the site for its first U.S. plant. The company will invest up to $1 billion in the plant that's slated to begin production in 2011, according to a statement released in Germany after a meeting of the group's supervisory board.

See here for the rest of the article.

[JimWisc]

I hope their reason for building in the U.S. has to do with more than just the falling dollar, because who knows where the dollar will be in 2011 when production is supposed to begin. Where it's at in 2008 has no bearing on where it will be three years from now.

Congratulations Tennessee.