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VW+Audi Heading East?

turbocraig

By turbocraig
in Charlotte

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turbocraig Burg

turbocraig

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Ok, so I'm reading the Detroit News today and stumble upon this article about VW-Audi possibly bolting from Auburn Hills, MI (suburban Detroit) and setting up shop on the East Coast for their new US base of operations (specifically mentioned in the article are suburban DC or somewhere in NC). Has anyone else heard of VW possibly moving here, either Charlotte or elsewhere in NC?

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artic...349/1148/AUTO01

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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There have been rumors posted in the Grand Rapids and Greenville sections about VW creating a new operations in one of those places. One is based on the fact the Governor of Michigan recently visited the VW management in Germany the SC one well.... is just based on rumor. I can't think of any compelling reasons as to why VW would want to open an office in CLT.

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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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Well, as I posted in the CLT airport thread, they are likely building a new plant off of I-85 between Greenville and Anderson. I think Charlotte would be a reasonable location based on the proximity to the plant, and it's daily non-stop to Frankfurt.....Wolfsburg is about 2 hours NE of Frankfurt.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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Well, as I posted in the CLT airport thread, they are likely building a new plant off of I-85 between Greenville and Anderson. I think Charlotte would be a reasonable location based on the proximity to the plant, and it's daily non-stop to Frankfurt.....Wolfsburg is about 2 hours NE of Frankfurt.
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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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I did take note, and measued the distances myself, and the likely location would be 20 miles closer to CLT than ATL airports, plus you have to drive all the way through Atlanta to get to ATL, whereas driving to CLT doesn't require you to go through the city.

That said, Atlanta wouldn't surprise me as a HQ location considering Porsche is already there, and they've shared vehicle platforms in the past (not sure how relavent that is for corporate offices). I don't think ATL has better access for VW, unless there is a non-stop to Hamburg.

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brokenraven Whistle-Stop

brokenraven

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What type of incentives package do you think that Charlotte could put together to convince VW? I know the auto industry would be nice to diversify the economy here, although the article simply states "North Carolina". I would think it could also go to the Triad, what with Honda Jet and Fed Ex being there.

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HopHead City

HopHead

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What type of incentives package do you think that Charlotte could put together to convince VW? I know the auto industry would be nice to diversify the economy here, although the article simply states "North Carolina". I would think it could also go to the Triad, what with Honda Jet and Fed Ex being there.
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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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With corporate offices, I don't think the Triad would be as competitive. Triad would make more sense for a plant. I would think Charlotte with it's non-stop would make the most sense. I think NC would be pretty competitive. These jobs ususally end up suburban office parks, but still, they would be relatively high paying and anything to solidfy Charlotte with a European connection would be a big win in my opinion.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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It should be noted that VW's major assembly operations in North America are in Mexico. They did open a plant in Pennsylvania in 1978 the first foreign manufacturer to do so, and had to close it 10 years later. The Rabbits built in this plant were of such poor quality that sales dropped off greatly and they lost their #1 import manufacturer standing to the Japanese. It's not clear to me they would open another assembly plant in the USA when they have so much invested in Mexico. Maybe they want a prestige Audi plant so they can pretend they are BMW and Mercedes.

In this case we are talking about a move of their US corp HQ from Michigan to another city. This may just be a move on their part to squeeze some incentives out of Michigan to stay there. I don't think NC would match whatever Michigan would have to offer.

Finally it should be noted that about 3 years ago, Daimler created a new division called Daimler-Chrysler Vans which was HQ'd here in Charlotte. This division took was responsible for reselling rebadged Mercedes-Benz Sprinter vans under the Dodge and Freightliner brands here in the USA. They opened a HQ in Huntersville and much of their early advertizing featured Charlotte backdrops. However they folded this division a couple of years ago and moved all of the operations to Michigan. So as we can see, it goes both ways.

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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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Was the Sprinter departure not related to Daimler-Benz selling Chrysler? I honestly don't know, and didn't know they had left.

It certainly does work both ways, but I would think a German company would see less benefit to having its US operations in Michigan, than a US company, but I agree that it could very well be a tactic to see how much Michigan will pay to keep them.

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monsoon Gigalopolis

monsoon

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Having read that newspaper article 3 questions come to mind:

  1. Would VW leave Michigan or is this just a ploy to get some incentives out of the Michigan government?

  2. Would VW choose DC or North Carolina?

  3. If NC was the destination would they go to the Triangle, Triad, Charlotte or some other place?

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atlrvr Metropolitan Area

atlrvr

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1. It's likely a ploy to get money out of Michigan, but I'm sure they're open to the possibility of a move a la Boeing moving to Chicago.

2. Not sure. NC could make more sense if they do open a plant in SC. DC probably makes more sense otherwise.

3. I would assume Charlotte, since the VW insider said they want to be in a place with better flight connections to Europe.

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