UPDATE: Volkswagen plans to build a new five-passenger SUV in Chattanooga, WRCB reports.
According to a person briefed on details, the company will invest $340 million to bring the vehicle to market. The person revealed this information on condition of anonymity to avoid pre-empting an official announcement Monday in Chattanooga.
The German carmaker describes the vehicle as a variant of the seven-passenger Atlas, designed and engineered for the American market. The Chattanooga plant also manufactures the Passat and the Atlas.
PREVIOUS STORY: An announcement scheduled for Monday afternoon at Volkswagen's Chattanooga plant could outline the German automaker's next move.
Antonio Pinto, the President and CEO, Volkswagen Chattanooga and Hinrich J. Woebcken, President and CEO, Volkswagen Group of America, will join Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam, Hamilton County Mayor Jim Coppinger and Chattanooga Mayor Andy Berke.
Volkswagen showed their plans for electric, autonomous vehicles at the recent Geneva International Motor Show when they debuted the I.D. Vizzion, a "Level 5" self-driving car.
But speculation also abounds as to VW adding a production line for a smaller version of the Atlas SUV, which could sport a lower profile and fewer seats than the larger seven-seat vehicle built in Chattanooga.
A smaller two-row Volkswagen SUV could help fill the void left by the now-discontinued Touareg SUV.
Earlier in 2018, VW said they would idle production for two separate, nonproduction periods March 26-29 and April 2-5
