Volkswagen/Porsche/Audi U.S. plant in July -paper

[austin552]

http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssConsumerGoodsAndRetailNews/idUSL1269606220080512

[charleskieffner]

maybe they should look for some cheap land here in arizona. right to werk state. quite a few other mfg's have test sites here. and .....................they might finally figure out how to make their a/c systems work when its 118-122F degrees out!

[kach22i]

Three U.S. states had been short-listed, the paper quoted Winterkorn as saying, namely Alabama, Tennessee and Michigan.

Why not, everyone else is here already.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Why go to union Michigan?! No way in hell. They'll build in the south somewhere, like every other foreign automaker. Union extortion vs right to work, hmmmmmm.............

[kach22i]

Originally Posted by onewhippedpuppy

Why go to union Michigan?! No way in hell. They'll build in the south somewhere, like every other foreign automaker. Union extortion vs right to work, hmmmmmm.............

The brain trust or hi-tech sector will locate in Michigan (Example; $50M Fuel-Cell Technology Center) and the grunt labor will continue to go south.

[onewhippedpuppy]

Now that would make sense. Pick up the engineers as the big 3 lays them off.

[svandamme]

Porsche going abroad?? doubt it very much

Even in the EU Porsche is known for it's pro german workers stance, and how Porsche used it's influence to prevent VW factories from closing in favor of other plants closing in the EU

even with the weak dollar, i don't see it happen
How would setting up a plant in the US, and all the costs related to that, change the dollar?

They'de still be Porsche AG in Germany, and any buck they make would still be worth less once they make Euro's out of them Bucks, then there is marketing value "made in germany".. vs Made in the USA
no offence, but were talking German sports cars here, they are supposed to be built in Germany , it's like sparkling wine that's made in California, it's ok , but it ain't Champagne now is it...

then there is the risk of big investments in production capacity, in times of ever rising fuel prices, anybody see a conflict there??

[Jim Sims]

"but were talking German sports cars here, they are supposed to be built in Germany"

I seem to recall that some portion of the Porsche sports car production is already being made in Finland.

"then there is the risk of big investments in production capacity, in times of ever rising fuel prices, anybody see a conflict there??"

Production lines and engineering resources can be readily directed to other ends such as vehicles that achieve 50 MPG (4.7l/100km); performance and efficiency are often "different sides of the same coin." As the dollar declines the US becomes a version of "China" for Europe.

[pwd72s]

The first step to racing in NASCAR?

[jmshepard]

Michigan, nobody is that foolish.
As an example, the American Axle strike has been on-going since February. It is beyond reason at this point and moving towards insanity. Driving the improving GM product line into the dirt and pushing American Axle and those UAW jobs out of this country.
The work force in Michigan is way to militant for new industry to move into the pleasant peninsula.