VW ID.4 Production Starts in Chattanooga
Volkswagen's Chattanooga, Tennessee, plant begins series production of the VW ID.4 electric crossover.
The ID.4 is now produced at four plants around the world, including the original site in Zwickau, Germany, and at Foshan and Anting in China.
Initially, 82-kWh versions of the ID.4 will be produced, with the 62-kWh models due to join later this year.
Following months of preparations, the first US-made Volkswagen ID.4 rolled off the assembly line this week in Chattanooga, Tennessee. The electric crossover is the first EV from the automaker's ID lineup to be produced stateside, and has entered production almost two years after first launching in Zwickau, Lower Saxony.
The start of ID.4 production comes after Volkswagen invested $800 million in the Tennessee plant that started building Passat sedans in 2011. Passat production in Chattanooga ends this year, but most of the plant's capacity has been devoted to the Atlas SUV models, since 2017.
Initially, 82-kWh versions with rear- or all-wheel drive will be produced stateside, with the smaller 62-kWh variant set to join production later this year.
VW plans to increase production to 7000 cars per month starting in the fourth quarter of this year, and to increase output further in 2023. VW points out that components for the ID.4 are manufactured in 11 states, with electronics coming from North Carolina and Kentucky, steel parts from Ohio and Alabama, and interior parts from Indiana and South Carolina.
In total, the ID.4 is now produced in four factories around the world, with Foshan and Anting in China (which now produce the ID.6 as well) having joined ID.4 production in 2021 at two VW joint ventures in the country.
"We’re just starting to write a new chapter for Volkswagen in America, and it is very much an American story," said Thomas Schäfer, chairman of the global Volkswagen brand. “When we promised to bring Volkswagen EVs to the millions, it always included American workers building those EVs right there in Chattanooga.
The start of US production is a major step for the automaker, which has contended with a number of delays early on during the pandemic, just as ID.3 and ID.4 production was getting started in Germany. Volkswagen has managed to work through a number of supplier challenges amid record demand for EVs in Europe in 2020 and 2021, with the start of production in Chattanooga designed to take some of the pressure off Zwickau when it comes to US models.
However, the ID.4 is expected to be the sole electric VW model produced stateside for now, and will be the only EV offered by VW for some time, as the ID. Buzz due in 2024 will be produced in Germany and most likely so will the Aero sedan due the same year, aimed at the Tesla Model 3. Volkswagen had also decided some time ago not to introduce the smaller and less expensive ID.3 hatchback stateside.
"We couldn’t be prouder to see that vision realized today with our ID.4 electric flagship rolling off the lines," Schäfer added. "This is another milestone in Volkswagen’s ambitious electrification strategy for the U.S. market and globally."
The US production launch also coincides with Scott Keogh, who has been CEO and president of Volkswagen Group of America and head of the Volkswagen brand in North America since 2018, being named to lead the Scout electric truck and SUV brand, which is expected to be produced at the expanded Chattanooga site starting in 2026. Keogh oversaw the preparations for ID.4 production in Chattanooga prior to championing plans to resurrect the Scout brand.
