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VW To Expand Chattanooga Plant

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

NPR's Business News starts with new auto industry jobs. The German automaker Volkswagen says it's going to spend $900 million expanding its plant in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Volkswagen will add 2,000 new jobs at the plant for production of a new seven-passenger SUV. You may recall that VW's Chattanooga plant was at the center of a fight over organized labor. Workers there voted against joining the United Auto Workers union in February and then fears that those new jobs would go to Mexico instead. The UAW says it will establish a local to offer representation to workers at the plant, though that local will not be recognized by the company. VW will also add 200 engineering positions - part of a strategy many foreign automakers are employing hoping that U.S.-based engineers will bring better insights into what American drivers want. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.