Short dive:
- Volkswagen Group of America has named Henning Habicht as the new head of the Chattanooga plant, the company’s 3.8 million-square-foot assembly plant in Tennessee, according to a press release.
- Habicht will assume the role starting in December, taking the reins from Chris Glover, who was at the helm production at the plant for the last three years. Glover will retire at the end of January after a career of almost 40 years at Volkswagen.
- “Henning’s extensive leadership background at global Volkswagen manufacturing facilities will greatly benefit our goals at the plant and will also build on our deep commitment to the city of Chattanooga,” member Chris Vollmer said in a statement of the VW management board responsible for production and logistics.
Diving information:
Habicht previously served as head of production at the plant, overseeing assembly of the Volkswagen Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and electric ID.4.
Habicht has held several leadership roles at the automaker, including head of production at the Volkswagen SAIC joint venture plant in Shanghai, China, and head of production at Wolfsburg Plant 1 in Germany, which VW says is the largest largest automobile manufacturer in the world. complex. The manager has been at Volkswagen for 15 years.
His appointment comes as VW is transforming its global manufacturing facilities to produce electric vehicles. Habicht will lead the transformation of the plant, which also includes increasing production capacity for other models.
“We are committed to maximizing production of many of Volkswagen’s best-selling vehicles across the Atlas, Atlas Cross Sport and ID.4, as well as supporting the economic vitality of the incredible city of Chattanooga,” Habicht said in the release.
Henning Habicht has worked for the automaker for 15 years.
Courtesy of the Volkswagen Group
Assembly of the ID.4 in Tennessee began in mid-2022 in Chattanooga, and other all-electric models will be launched in the United States in the coming years, including new SUV models starting in 2026. Volkswagen says it will invest more than $2 billion euros ($2.1 billion) in the electrification and digitalization of its products in the North America region until 2027.
VW began vehicle production at its Chattanooga plant in 2011. In 2019, the company began a project to prepare the plant for electric vehicle production.