VW to Add Crossover Model in Chattanooga?

Volkswagen AG has chosen its factory in Chattanooga, Tenn., to produce a three-row crossover, according to Automotive News.

VW executives in Germany tell the newspaper no decision has been made. But VW of America CEO Jonathan Browning describes the crossover as "very well defined."

AN reported in July that VW dealers were told that a seven-passenger crossover was coming to the American market. A month later Browning told reporters a decision on where to build the vehicle in North America would be made by year-end and production could start in 2015.

VW currently build cars at its big factory in Puebla, Mexico. And its Audi unit plans to produce small luxury crossovers at a new $1.2 billion plant in San Jose Chiapa, Mexico, in 2016.

The 5-year-old Chattanooga plant, which assembles the Passat sedan, is currently equipped to make 150,000 vehicles per year but could be expanded to produce more than 250,000 units.