Press Releases
19 August 2008
Frank Fischer Named Head of New Volkswagen Factory in Chattanooga
Chattanooga — Frank Fischer, 46, has been appointed head of the project team and plant manager for the new Volkswagen factory in Chattanooga, Tenn. This announcement is effective October 1, 2008.
"Frank is an excellent choice to lead our new project in Chattanooga, and I welcome him back to the United States, said Stefan Jacoby, President and CEO Volkswagen Group of America. "We continue to make progress on our aggressive start of production timeline and Frank's appointment is another important step in that process."
Frank Fischer holds engineering degrees from RWTH Aachen and the University of Washington in Seattle. He joined the Volkswagen Group in 1991, first sharing responsibility for strategic issues and competition comparisons before becoming head of body construction at the Wolfsburg plant. He subsequently moved to Emden as production manager in 2001. Frank Fischer has been the plant manager at Brunswick (Braunschweig), Germany since March 2005.
About the Brunswick plant
The very first Volkswagen plant was set up in Brunswick seventy years ago. Today, the plant stands for highly-developed technical know-how and is one of the world's largest leading chassis components manufacturers. Brunswick has one of the world's biggest axle manufacturing facilities under one roof. Activities range from development to final assembly. The Brunswick Business Unit is one of the most important system suppliers for the Volkswagen Group's vehicle-building factories worldwide. Parts produced in Brunswick are fitted in almost all of the Group's models. The main factory is located on Hamburger Strasse, right next to the stadium of the Eintracht Braunschweig soccer club. There are two other production facilities, one specializing in plastics technology and also situated on Hamburger Strasse a little further out of town, and the other, hall 30, located near the port of Brunswick. Building work on production hall 31 to house the "Steering Unit Competence Center" is currently underway. The plant has been an independent Business Unit since 1997 and must hold its own in international competition. This center is divided into the steering units/shock absorbers, front and rear axles and plastics technology product units as well as machine construction and tool engineering.
Production
The components manufacturing division produces front and rear axles, shock-absorbers, steering units and plastic parts. In addition complex modules, machines, systems and dies are manufactured. Here some 20,000 front and rear axles, 25.000 shock-absorbers and 4.000 steering units are produced per working day. Plastic parts have been made at the Brunswick plant since 1983. Each day, 120 injection molding machines, four assembly lines and two paint shops turn 49 tons of granulated plastic into 420 different products, such as dashboards, flaps or pedal housings. Double-digit productivity growth in the last two years illustrates the competitiveness of the plant.
Development / Product creation process
In order to compete internationally with external suppliers the plant possesses product-specific development groups which have been continuously expanded since 1994. In these some 130 employees work on the development of vehicle parts such as front and rear axles, swing mountings, plastics technology, pedal systems, steering units, shock absorbers and electronics. With their designs they serve not only various brands of Volkswagen AG but also the so-called third market, i.e. non-Group vehicle brands.
The components and tool engineering section with its workforce of some 700 is the link between development and production, and completes the internal production creation process which begins with the first prototypes and ends with series production.
Workforce
At the end of December 2007, the Brunswick Volkswagen plant has about 5,700 employees.
About Volkswagen Group of America, Inc.
Volkswagen Group of America, Inc. is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Volkswagen AG, the world's fourth largest automaker and the largest carmaker in Europe. It houses the U.S. operations of a worldwide family of distinguished and exciting brands including Audi, Bentley, Bugatti, Lamborghini and Volkswagen, as well as VW Credit, Inc. Founded in 1955, the company's headquarters are in Herndon, Va.
Volkswagen Group of America brings to the U.S. vehicles that marry the science of engineering and the art of styling, with the goal of offering attractive, safe, and environmentally sound automobiles that are competitive and set world standards in their respective classes.
The company has approximately 2,500 employees in the United States and sells its vehicles through an 800-strong dealer network. With increasing popularity for its brands in the U.S., the company has set the goal of reaching one million car sales in the country by 2018.
For more information, visit www.volkswagengroupamerica.com.
Photos of the plant can be seen at:
http://www.volkswagenag.com/vwag/vwcorp/content/en/the_group/production_plants.html
https://www.volkswagen-media-services.com/medias_publish/ms/content/en/
pressemitteilungen/2007/12/30/the_volkswagen_plant3.standard.gid-oeffentlichkeit.html
