Topic: VW May Build U.S. Factory

[Ultra]

Daily Auto Insider

Volkswagen may consider building a factory in North America if the U.S. dollar remains weak against the euro, according to a report by the German weekly Focus, which cited VW's chief executive Martin Winterkorn.

"If the dollar exchange rate stays at its present level, we will have to begin thinking about a factory in North America," Winterkorn said. Volkswagen, which is based in Wolfsburg, Germany, already has a subsidiary, Volkswagen of America Inc., headquartered in Auburn Hills, Mich. It is also planning to set up a second administrative hub near Detroit, "to get closer to our customers" there, Winterkorn said.

[Stephen M]

Two thoughts:

1) The C&D tagline says "US factory", but the direct quote merely specifies "North America." Equating the two won't help relations with our neighbors to the north and south. They do mention the reason being US currency, though, so I'll let it slide.

2) The success of BMW, Toyota, Honda, et al building cars in the US just proves that US labor can still bolt together a pretty good automobile...as long as they're unfettered from Big Three management and union obligations.