Volkswagen of America is meeting its 582 US and 130 Canadian dealers to prepare them for the new 2011 Jetta, which arrives in showrooms today (24 September).
“We have a clear vision: to take the Volkswagen Group to the top of the auto industry by 2018,” said VW chairman of the board Martin Winterkorn. “In terms of sales and profit; but also when it comes to the team, quality and customer satisfaction. Size is not the essence for us, and size is not an end in itself, our focus is on quality growth.”
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As part of the meeting, dealers will view the Golf Blue e-Motion, which is designed from the ground up as an electric vehicle. The Golf Blue e-Motion will have a range of 100 miles and is expected to be in market by 2013.
“Volkswagen dealers are the lynch-pin for our strategy to grow the business here in America,” said Jonathan Browning, Volkswagen of America president. “I’m looking forward to meeting with our dealers and sharing a preview of Volkswagen’s new products, along with providing a first look at our new assembly facility in Chattanooga.”
Volkswagen’s Chattanooga plant opens next year and represents a US$1bn investment by the company in the US. The plant will build Volkswagen’s new mid size sedan and create thousands of new jobs.
In addition to opening the Chattanooga plant in 2011, Volkswagen of America will introduce four all-new or refreshed models – NMS, Beetle, Tiguan and Eos. These vehicles join the 2010 launch of the all-new Jetta and new Touareg.
Each of these vehicles is a plant in the Volkswagen Group’s target of selling one million vehicles annually in the US by 2018 (Volkswagen: 800,000; Audi: 200,000).
