Volkswagen is trying to push past the dieselgate scandal and polish its brand in America around a fresh set of high-tech autos.
Just before heading to a major auto show in Frankfurt, VW brand chief Herbert Diess told an in-house Volkswagen publication the automaker’s future compass will point directly to the new technology –- electric cars powered entirely by batteries.
“In the old world, it is Toyota, Hyundai, and the French carmakers. In the new world it is Tesla,” Diess said, referring to a nimble California manufacturing startup influencing Detroit, Shanghai, Stuttgart and Tokyo with its electric-car ambitions.
VW’s $1.7 billion Tennessee assembly plant likely will be assigned production of some of these new models, probably with gasoline variants early on, although imports from Europe and Mexico are also possible, automotive analysts suggest.
“VW Chattanooga would love to be the plant producing electric vehicles in North America but the company has not announced yet where they will go,” VW Chattanooga spokesman Scott Wilson said, adding, “We are definitely in the running.”
To read more of the original article, go to USA Today.
